AI Compare · AI tools
Claude: plans, prices, strengths and limits
Claude is Anthropic's general assistant, with Claude Code for coding. It suits people who work with long documents, files or code and want an ad-free app, from Free up to $200 a month.
Prices for United States, before sales tax Data release 2026.10.16-3, Oct 16, 2026 Rules 2.1.0
- Made by
- Anthropic
- Individual plans
- 4, one free
- Paid plans
- $20 to $200 a month
- Facts checked
- Oct 16, 2026
Quick verdict
Claude is a fit if you work with long documents, files or code. Anthropic documents a context of up to 1 million tokens on every individual plan, including Free, and an ad-free commitment on all of them. Pro at $20 a month, or $200 a year paid up front, adds Research, Opus, Claude Code in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, cloud coding sessions and Claude in Chrome. The principal limitations: Claude does not generate photos or illustrations on any plan, Free has no Research or Claude Code, and chat and Claude Code share one pool of usage limits. This rests on what Anthropic documents, not on our tests.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- 1 million tokens on every planAnthropic documents a context of up to 1 million tokens on Free, Pro and both Max plans. OpenAI documents 256K for reasoning models on ChatGPT Plus. How well Claude uses a long document is a question for testing, which our report summary kit covers.
- Ad-free, including FreeAnthropic states an ad-free commitment on every plan, Free included. By comparison, OpenAI says ads may appear on ChatGPT Free and Go.
- Claude Code from ProPro and Max include Claude Code: an extension for VS Code, Cursor and other VS Code forks, a plugin for JetBrains IDEs, and cloud sessions on Anthropic-managed VMs that keep running after you close your laptop and can open pull requests. There is no separate VM charge; it counts toward plan usage.
- A yearly price on ProPro costs $200 a year on the web, paid up front, which works out to about $17 a month against $20 billed monthly. Max 5x and Max 20x are monthly only.
- Files and connectors on all plansEvery plan accepts PDF, Word, CSV, text and Excel files of up to 500MB each, up to 20 per chat, and Claude can create and edit files with code execution. Connectors include Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Slack and Microsoft 365, plus custom remote MCP (one on Free).
Limits
- No images or videoDocumented absence. Claude does not generate photos or illustrations on any plan; it can build diagrams, charts and SVG visuals, a beta on web and desktop. Claude Motion (beta) is marked as not included on Free, Pro and Max.
- Free leaves out key toolsPlan limit. Free has no Research, no Claude Code, no editor integration, no cloud coding sessions and no Claude in Chrome. It includes Sonnet and Haiku but not Opus, and up to five projects.
- One shared usage poolWorkflow friction. Chat and Claude Code draw on the same limits. On Pro, a session limit resets every five hours, plus a weekly limit. Heavy coding can use up the allowance you also need for chat; Max 5x and Max 20x give five and twenty times Pro usage per session.
- Not documented: completions, custom assistants, Google appsUnverified points. No page we checked documents code completions as you type, and the Desktop app docs say it has no autocomplete. GPT-style custom assistants and a native Gmail, Docs or Sheets integration are not listed either.
- Export and mobile pricing gapsDocumented limits. You can export your data from the web or desktop app, not from iOS or Android. Max prices are for web subscriptions; Anthropic says mobile pricing may vary by platform, and for Pro it points you to your app store for current prices.
Based on what Anthropic documents for each plan, not on our tests.
Who it suits
A good fit if you
- Long reports, contracts or codebases in one chat
- Coding with Claude Code in VS Code, Cursor or JetBrains IDEs (Pro and up)
- An ad-free assistant, including on the free plan
- Paying yearly for a $20-tier plan (Pro at $200 a year)
- File work that pulls from Drive, Gmail or GitHub through connectors
Look elsewhere if you
- Making photos or illustrations: not offered on any plan
- Video generation: not offered on Free, Pro or Max
- Code completions as you type: not documented, so not verified
- Working inside Gmail, Docs or Sheets: not documented
Plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Free | Free | Oct 12, 2026 | |
| Claude ProAnnual: $17/month billed up front ($200/yr); offered on web. | $20 a month | $200 a year | Oct 12, 2026 Source |
| Claude Max 5x | $100 a month | Not listed | Oct 12, 2026 Source |
| Claude Max 20x | $200 a month | Not listed | Oct 12, 2026 Source |
Prices for United States, before sales tax unless a plan says otherwise. A yearly plan is paid up front and is not cancel-any-time.
Features by plan
What Anthropic documents for each plan. A hatched mark means we could not verify it, which is not the same as "not offered".
| Feature | Claude Free | Claude Pro | Claude Max 5x | Claude Max 20x |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Models and limits | ||||
| Top models included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Context window | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Models from several companies | No | No | No | No |
| General-purpose assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research and sources | ||||
| Web search with sources | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deep research reports | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Files and data | ||||
| File and document uploads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheet and data analysis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coding | ||||
| Coding agent | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works in your code editor | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Code completions as you type | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Background coding agent | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pull request review | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images, video and voice | ||||
| Image generation | No | No | No | No |
| Video generation | No | No | No | No |
| Real-time voice | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing and design | ||||
| Photo editing | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Background removal | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Text inside images | No | No | No | No |
| Logo maker | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Vector (SVG) files | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Upscaling | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Video editing and presenters | ||||
| Photo to video | No | No | No | No |
| Footage editing | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Avatar presenters | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Lip sync | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Automatic captions | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Clips from long videos | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Exports without a watermark | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| App building and hosting | ||||
| Apps from a description | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hosting and publishing | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domain | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Database and sign-in | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Code export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music, voice and transcription | ||||
| Songs with vocals | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Instrumental music | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Separate stems | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Voiceover from text | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Voice cloning | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Dubbing into other languages | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Sound effects | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Transcription | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Meeting notes | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Dictation into any app | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Projects and memory | ||||
| Projects | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom assistants | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Memory across chats | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations and agents | ||||
| Connectors to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Gmail | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Google Docs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Google Sheets | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Word | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Excel | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside PowerPoint | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Outlook | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser agent | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy and control | ||||
| Opt out of model training | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export your data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shows ads | No | No | No | No |
| Rights and licensing | ||||
| Commercial use of outputs | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Apps and extras | ||||
| Cloud storage included | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The details and sources of every row are in Compare two AIs and the data release.
Models on each plan
The models each plan's own pages name, on the terms they give. A model being offered says nothing about how well the plan does your work.
Claude Pro
Claude Max 5x
What it documents for each use
- Research & Search Research a question with sources that hold up · Check claims against reliable sources · Get a research report from many sources · Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Writing & Content Edit an email without losing a detail · Edit an article without changing its facts · Draft long pieces that stay consistent · Write ads, posts and short copy
- Coding & Development Code inside my editor · Hand repository tasks to an agent · Review pull requests automatically · Build an app without writing code · Put an app or site online
- Business & Productivity Connect AI to the apps I already use · Use AI inside Google Docs · Use AI inside Google Sheets · Use AI inside Word · Use AI inside Excel · Use AI inside PowerPoint · Use AI inside Outlook
- Data & Analytics Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right · Turn data into charts and tables
- Agents & Automation Let an agent do tasks in a browser
- Audio & Voice Talk it through by voice
A use is listed when at least one plan documents every feature a task needs. Answer quality is a separate question: see below.
Using it day to day
Claude runs on the web, iOS, Android and desktop. From Pro, Claude Code adds an extension for VS Code and Cursor (and other VS Code forks such as Kiro), a plugin for JetBrains IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm and Android Studio, and Claude Code on the web, where cloud sessions clone GitHub repos and create pull requests. For pull request review, individual plans use Claude Code GitHub Actions with a subscription token; Anthropic's managed Code Review is for Team and Enterprise only.
Anthropic publishes how its limits work. Free has rolling five-hour session limits. Pro gives at least five times Free usage per session, plus a weekly limit, and Max 5x and Max 20x give five and twenty times Pro. Chat and Claude Code share the same pool. Max also includes Claude Platform API credits of $100 or $200 a month, matching its price, and priority access at high traffic.
Max prices are for web subscriptions, and Anthropic says mobile pricing may vary. Whether US sales tax is included is not documented on the pages we checked.
Privacy, data and ads
Anthropic asks you to choose the Model Improvement setting when you sign up, and you can change it any time in Privacy Settings. It does not state which option is selected by default, so check it. You can export your data from the web or desktop app, but not from the iOS or Android apps.
Anthropic states an ad-free commitment on every plan, including Free. How long data is kept for other purposes is not covered on the pages we checked, so read Anthropic's privacy pages if your work is confidential.
Read the vendor's own page: Claude privacy and data controls. We make no legal or compliance claim.
Test results
We have not tested Claude yet, so this page makes no claim about answer quality, and we show no example outputs. Run the same kit in it and in the alternatives, in your own account:
- Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right
- Edit an email without losing a detail
- Diagnose and repair a small program
- Research a question with sources that support the answer
- Make sense of documents that disagree
- Research a current question within a date window
- Edit an article without changing its facts
- Turn project notes into a report that agrees with itself
- Implement a small specification
- Refactor code without changing what it does
- Make a picture that follows a detailed brief
- Put exact text into a graphic
- Change one thing in a picture and nothing else
- Make a short clip that follows a brief
- Make a song that sings your lyrics exactly
- Read a script with names, numbers and abbreviations
- Design a logo with an exact name
Getting started
- Start on Free and check the Model Improvement setting in Privacy Settings.
- Upload one of your own long documents and run the report summary kit to see whether the facts stay traceable.
- Run the email edit kit and the spreadsheet kit with the kind of files you use at work.
- If you need Research or Claude Code, move to Pro and run the code repair kit in Claude Code.
- Pay yearly only once you know you will keep Pro for twelve months. If you hit limits, compare Max with ChatGPT Pro in ChatGPT vs Claude.
Your fit
Tell Find my AI what you do and what matters; it checks every plan of Claude against your priorities, next to the alternatives.
Alternatives
- ChatGPT ChatGPT generates images on every plan, lets you use custom GPTs and works inside Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Google Sheets through extensions, none of which Anthropic lists for Claude. It has no yearly billing, and Free and Go may show ads. Read the comparison About ChatGPT
- Gemini Google AI Pro ($19.99 a month or $199.99 a year) documents the same 1 million token context, plus Gemini inside Gmail, Docs and Sheets, image and video generation, and 5 TB of storage. Read the comparison About Gemini
- Perplexity Perplexity documents citations in every answer and one Research query a month on Free, where Claude Free has no Research. Pro lets you pick models from several companies, including Anthropic. Read the comparison About Perplexity
- GitHub Copilot Copilot documents code completions as you type: 2,000 a month on Free and unlimited on Pro at $10 a month. Anthropic does not document them for Claude Code. Read the comparison About GitHub Copilot
Questions
Can Claude create images?
No. Anthropic says Claude does not generate photos or illustrations on any individual plan. It can build diagrams, charts and SVG visuals, a beta on web and desktop. ChatGPT generates images on every plan.
Does Claude Free include Claude Code?
No. Claude Code, the editor integrations and cloud coding sessions start at Pro, $20 a month. Free also leaves out Research and Claude in Chrome.
Can I pay yearly for Claude?
For Pro, yes: $200 a year on the web, paid up front, about $17 a month. Max 5x ($100 a month) and Max 20x ($200 a month) are monthly only.
How do Claude's usage limits work?
On Pro, a session limit resets every five hours, plus a weekly limit, and chat and Claude Code share them. Free has rolling five-hour session limits. Max 5x and Max 20x give five and twenty times Pro usage per session.
Does Claude train on my chats?
You choose the Model Improvement setting when you sign up and can change it any time in Privacy Settings. Anthropic does not state which option is the default, so check it.
Sources
28 official pages, checked Oct 12, 2026 to Oct 16, 2026. This page was written by the What the tech desk with AI assistance from the facts in our data release; no company paid for or reviewed it.
- Plans & pricing | ClaudeAnthropic
- Claude (claude.com home, plans section)Anthropic
- What kinds of documents can I upload to Claude? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Can Claude produce images? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Custom visuals in chat and Cowork | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- What are artifacts and how do I use them? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Get started with Claude Design | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Get started with Claude MotionAnthropic
- Upload files to Claude | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Connect to Microsoft 365 | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Use dictation on Claude Mobile | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Can I use my Outputs to train an AI model? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Get started with Claude in Chrome | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Use Claude in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Updates to Consumer Terms and Privacy PolicyAnthropic
- How can I export my Claude data? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
- Claude is a space to think (Feb 4, 2026)Anthropic
- Use Claude Code in VS Code - Claude Code DocsAnthropic
- Desktop application - Claude Code DocsAnthropic
- Claude Code on the web - Claude Code DocsAnthropic
- Claude Code GitHub Actions - Claude Code DocsAnthropic
- Artifacts (Claude Code Docs)Anthropic
- Use Claude for WordAnthropic
- Use Claude for ExcelAnthropic
- Use Claude for PowerPointAnthropic
- Use Claude for OutlookAnthropic
- What is the Max plan? | Claude Help CenterAnthropic
Read how AI Compare works. Found an error? It goes in the change log once corrected.