Is Claude Free? Free vs Paid Plans in 2026

Yes, Claude has a free plan. It costs $0 and lets you chat with Claude on the web, desktop and mobile, with access to the Sonnet and Haiku models. Heavier features such as Claude Code, Research and the Opus model need a paid plan, which starts with Claude Pro at $20 per month billed monthly.

This guide explains what you get for free, what you have to pay for, and how to decide whether an upgrade is worth it. All details were checked against Anthropic's official pricing page on 20 October 2026.

Claude plans at a glance

Prices exclude applicable tax, and prices and plans can change. You can always check the current figures on the official Claude pricing page.

What the free Claude plan includes

According to the official pricing page, the Free plan includes:

• Chat on web, desktop and mobile
• Web search, file creation and code execution
• Memory
• Connectors and apps
• Artifacts
• Claude Design, Slides and Docs
• Skills, voice mode, desktop extensions and user preferences

The page also states two limits. Projects are capped at 5, and model access is limited to Sonnet and Haiku.

The site adds that every plan has usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour session window. The page does not publish a message count for the Free plan, so we cannot tell you exactly how many chats you will get before you are asked to wait.

What the free plan leaves out

The official page lists these as not included on Free:

• Claude Code
• Research
• Opus
• Claude Science
• Claude in Chrome
• Claude for Microsoft 365
• Dashboards

If any of those matter to you, you will need at least Claude Pro.

Claude Pro

Pro includes everything in Free, plus more usage, the ability to hand off and schedule tasks, Claude Dashboards (in beta), Claude Code, Claude Science, Projects (Free is limited to 5), Research, Opus, Claude in Chrome and Claude for Microsoft 365. Usage credits are also available.

The price is $17 per month if you pay annually ($200 up front), or $20 per month if you pay monthly. If you are not sure you will keep using it, the monthly option is easier to cancel. If you already know you will, the annual option costs less per month.

Claude Max

Max is for people who use Claude heavily. It offers a choice of 5x or 20x Pro's usage, higher output limits, early access to advanced features and priority access at high-traffic times. It also includes monthly API credits: $100 per month on Max 5x and $200 per month on Max 20x.

The official page lists the price as "from $100" per month, billed monthly only. It does not show a separate price for the 20x tier, so check the page when you sign up.

Claude Team and Enterprise

Team is for groups of 2 to 150 seats. A Standard seat costs $20 per seat per month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly, and gives more usage than Pro. A Premium seat costs $100 per seat per month billed annually, or $125 billed monthly, and gives 5 times the usage of a Standard seat. Team plans include central billing, single sign-on, admin controls and Claude Code, and they let you mix seat types.

Enterprise costs $20 per seat per month billed annually, with a 20-seat minimum, plus usage billed at API rates. It adds features such as role-based access, audit logs, custom data retention and IP allowlisting. Sales-assisted Enterprise, which adds invoicing and trials, is priced by quote.

Free or Pro: which should you choose?

Start with the free plan. It is a genuine way to test Claude on real tasks such as drafting emails, summarising documents, brainstorming or asking questions, with no payment.

Consider Pro if you:

• keep running into usage limits
• want to use Opus or Research
• want Claude Code for programming tasks
• need more Projects than the Free limit of 5 (the page lists Pro as Yes, with no cap shown)
• work with Microsoft 365 or Chrome and want Claude connected to them

Consider Max only if Pro regularly runs out for you. For most casual users, Free or Pro is enough.

Getting the most out of the free plan

Because the free plan has usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour window, a few habits help you stretch it:

• Group related questions into one conversation rather than starting many short ones.
• Use Projects (up to 5 on Free) to keep documents and instructions for a task in one place.
• Try memory and user preferences, which are included on Free, so you do not have to repeat yourself.
• If you hit the limit, wait for the window to reset before deciding whether an upgrade is worth it.

Remember that the official page does not publish an exact allowance for Free. Your experience will depend on how long your conversations are and which features you use.

Paying monthly or annually

Pro is the only individual plan with a choice between annual and monthly billing on the official page. Annual billing works out at $17 per month, with $200 paid up front, while monthly billing is $20 per month. Max is billed monthly only. For Team, the annual rate is lower per seat than the monthly rate, so a group that is confident about its size may prefer annual billing.

If you subscribe through the App Store or Google Play, the official page says App Store purchases are refunded by Apple, while Google Play purchases require contacting Anthropic support. It also describes a 14-day withdrawal period for customers in the European Economic Area and the UK, who can request a refund in the app.

How we chose

We checked every plan name, price and feature in this guide against Anthropic's official Claude pricing page on 20 October 2026. We did not use third-party review sites. Anything we could not confirm on the official page, such as exact message counts on the free plan, has been left out. Plans and prices can change, so confirm on the official page before you pay.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude completely free?

Claude has a free plan that costs $0, but it is limited. It covers everyday use with Sonnet and Haiku, and it excludes Claude Code, Research and Opus. Paid plans start with Pro.

How much does Claude Pro cost?

The official page shows $17 per month billed annually ($200 up front), or $20 per month billed monthly. Prices exclude applicable tax.

Can I use Claude Code for free?

No. The official pricing page lists Claude Code as not included on the Free plan. It is included from Pro upwards.

Does the free plan have usage limits?

Yes. The site says every plan has usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour session window. The page does not give an exact number of messages for the Free plan.

Can I get Opus on the free plan?

No. The Free plan is limited to Sonnet and Haiku. Opus is available from Pro.

What is the difference between Pro and Max?

Max offers a choice of 5x or 20x Pro's usage, higher output limits, early access to advanced features and priority access at busy times. It starts from $100 per month, billed monthly only.