Claude pricing: $0 on Free, $17 a month on Pro with annual billing ($20 with no commitment), $100 or $200 a month on Max, and $20 per seat per month on Team billed annually. These prices come from Anthropic's public price list, in US dollars excluding tax, which I checked on October 7, 2026.
Claude pricing: the table of plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | For whom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Discovery, light use |
| Pro | $20 | $17 a month, i.e. $200 paid upfront | Daily professional use |
| Max 5x | $100 | Not offered | Heavy use, several hours a day |
| Max 20x | $200 | Not offered | Continuous use, all day long |
| Team, Standard seat | $25 per seat | $20 per seat per month | Teams of 2 to 150 people |
| Team, Premium seat | $125 per seat | $100 per seat per month | The heavy users on a team |
| Enterprise | Not offered | $20 per seat per month, plus usage at API rates | Large organizations, compliance |
| API | Pay as you go, from $1 to $50 per million tokens depending on the model | Developers, automations | |
Source: claude.com/pricing and Anthropic's help center, checked on October 7, 2026. Prices in US dollars, excluding tax. Anthropic does not display a price list in euros: the amount in your currency is shown when you subscribe.
Key takeaways
- Pro costs $17 a month billed annually, but that is $200 charged in one go. With no commitment, it is $20 a month.
- Max only exists month to month: $100 for five times Pro's usage, $200 for twenty times.
- Team starts at two people, with Standard seats at $20 and Premium seats at $100 a month billed annually.
- Claude Code is included in every paid plan, with no separate subscription. It shares the same quota as your conversations.
- No subscription is unlimited: each has a limit per five-hour session, and paid plans have a weekly limit.
Claude pricing outside the US: what you actually pay
Anthropic publishes its price list in dollars. For a customer in France, elsewhere in Europe or anywhere outside the US, four things change the actual amount.
- Local currency. The help center states that Pro costs $20 a month in the United States, with pricing in your local currency where it is available. The price in euros is not published: you see it on claude.ai/upgrade before you pay.
- Tax. The prices on the list do not include tax. Depending on the region, tax is either included in the displayed price or added at checkout. A business can enter its VAT number when subscribing, or later in Settings, then Billing.
- Payment channel. On the web, only credit and debit cards are accepted. A subscription taken out from the iOS or Android app goes through Apple or Google, and Anthropic points out that the mobile price may differ.
- Language makes no difference. There is no "Claude in French" (or in any other language) billed separately: French, like English, is available on every plan, free included.
The $17 price tag trap
That amount corresponds to a twelve-month commitment paid upfront, meaning $200 charged in one go. For a freelancer trying the tool, the real comparison is between $200 right now and $20 a month you can cancel. Both make sense, but they are not the same decision.
What each Claude subscription includes
Few features change from one plan to the next. What mostly changes is the volume of use and access to the most powerful models. Here is what each plan contains, according to the official page.
Claude Free: $0
Chat on the web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation and code execution, memory, connectors, skills and up to five projects, with the Sonnet and Haiku models. No Claude Code, no Opus, no Cowork. The details, limit by limit, are in Is Claude free? Real free plan limits and tips.
Claude Pro: $17 or $20 a month
Everything in Free, plus at least five times the free plan's usage per session, the Opus model, Claude Code, Claude Cowork to delegate and schedule tasks, Claude Design, Slides and Docs, Claude Science, projects with no stated cap, the Research feature, Claude in Chrome and in Microsoft 365. The Fable model can be used with usage credits, billed on top at API rates.
Claude Max: $100 or $200 a month
Everything in Pro, with five times (Max 5x) or twenty times (Max 20x) its usage per session, higher output limits, priority access at peak times and early access to new features. Fable is included, up to 50% of the weekly limit. Nothing else changes: you do not move to Max to unlock a feature, but because you keep hitting the Pro cap.
Claude Team: $20 to $125 per seat
For 2 to 150 people. The Standard seat gives more usage than Pro, the Premium seat five times more than Standard, and you can mix the two as you like. The plan adds centralized billing and administration, single sign-on, project sharing, enterprise search across your tools, and content that is not used to train the models by default.
Claude Enterprise: $20 per seat, plus usage
Billed annually only, self-serve or through the sales team. The seat gives access, and all usage is billed on top at API rates. It adds what IT departments ask for: identity management (SCIM), audit logs, role-based access, custom data retention, IP allowlisting, a HIPAA-ready option. It is not an unlimited package.
There is also an Education plan, sold to universities for their students, faculty and staff, at a reduced price and on quote.
Usage limits: what you are really buying
A Claude subscription does not buy features, it buys volume. The official rules:
- A limit per five-hour session applies from Free to Team, and paid plans add a weekly limit that resets on a fixed day and time.
- The multipliers: Pro gives at least five times Free's usage per session, Max five or twenty times Pro's, the Team Standard seat more than Pro, the Premium seat five times Standard.
- One single counter: your conversations on the web, desktop, mobile and Claude Code all draw on the same quota.
- No fixed number of messages: consumption depends on the length of your exchanges, your files, the model and the effort level you choose.
- Usage credits: on Pro, Max and Team, you can keep going beyond the limit by paying as you go, at API rates, with a monthly cap you set yourself.
Anthropic also reserves the right to limit usage in other ways to ensure fair access. You track your consumption in Settings, then Usage. The only exception: an Enterprise organization billed by usage has no fixed limit, it pays for what it consumes.
Put numbers on your own case before choosing. Enter how many people will use Claude, how many are heavy users, and the billing period.
Which Claude plan should you choose?
Five profiles, and the plan that fits each one.
- Occasional use, a few questions a day: stay on Free. You will know it is time to switch when the limit gets in your way more than once a week.
- Freelancer or employee who uses it every day: Pro. It is the best value on the price list, and it includes Claude Code.
- Developer or writer who works in it continuously: Max 5x, but only after hitting the Pro cap for several weeks. Moving to Max in anticipation means paying five times the price for volume you do not use.
- Team of two to twenty people: Team, with Standard seats for everyone and Premium seats for the two or three heaviest users. A single invoice avoids expense reports, and content is not used for training by default.
- Organization with compliance requirements: Enterprise. The seat-plus-usage model calls for a serious volume estimate before signing.
The three-month rule
Start month to month, with no commitment, whatever your profile. After three months, you will know whether you hit the cap, whether usage has stuck, and whether annual billing is justified. The annual saving is not worth a year paid upfront for a tool you will drop by February.
If you are still torn between two assistants rather than two plans, the Claude vs ChatGPT comparison settles it use case by use case. And my Claude AI review details what the tool does well and less well, before money even comes into it.
Monthly or annual subscription: how billing works
- Annual billing exists for Pro and Team, and it is mandatory for Enterprise. Max is monthly only.
- Annual billing is charged in a single payment for the whole year, not spread over twelve months.
- Switching from monthly to annual is done in Settings, then Billing; unused time is credited to the first annual invoice.
- An upgrade takes effect immediately, with unused time credited to the new plan. If you move from an annual Pro plan to Max, any surplus is kept as credit.
- A downgrade takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Your conversations, projects and files stay in your account.
- Cancellation is possible at any time, at least 24 hours before renewal to avoid the next charge. Pro and Max then revert to Free at the end of the period.
- Refunds: payments are generally non-refundable, but in Europe and the UK you can request a refund in the app during the 14-day withdrawal period.
Claude API pricing: pay as you go
The developer platform follows a different logic, and it is not included in the subscription: an API key is paid for separately, per million tokens consumed. Here are the current models.
| Model | Input, per million tokens | Output, per million tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Haiku 4.5 | $1 | $5 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $2 | $10 |
| Opus 5.5 | $4 | $20 |
| Fable 5.1 | $10 | $50 |
Batch processing saves 50%, and caching sharply reduces the cost of reused context. For daily individual use, the subscription almost always works out cheaper and saves you from watching a meter. The break-even calculation between subscription and API, applied to Claude Code, is in Claude Code pricing: free or paid? I will not repeat it here.
How to subscribe to, change or cancel a Claude subscription
- Create a free account on claude.ai: an email address or a Google account, then a code sent by text message. I recommend starting this way, even when the decision to buy is already made.
- Upgrade to a paid plan from claude.ai/upgrade or Settings, then Billing. Enter your billing address right away and, for a business, your VAT number: an invoice that has already been issued can no longer be changed.
- Manage your subscription in the same place: plan, card, invoices, cancellation. Invoices are also sent by email.
- On Team, the organization owner invites each member, assigns them a Standard or Premium seat and manages billing in the organization settings.
If you subscribed from the mobile app, management and cancellation go through Apple or Google, which is much less convenient. I recommend subscribing from the website.
Is a Claude subscription worth the price?
For anyone who writes, sorts, summarizes or codes every day, Pro pays for itself as soon as it saves a few hours a month. Max is only justified if you genuinely hit the Pro cap, every week.
The real cost is not on the price list: it is the time it takes to learn the tool. A $20 subscription used well delivers more than a $200 subscription left to its own devices. On a team, check twice a year who actually opens the tool: dormant seats cost more than two hours of training. That is what I do in my AI consulting work: choose the right plan, then make sure it gets used.
One last habit: Anthropic's price list changes several times a year. Always check the date of a price, including the one in this article, and confirm on the official page before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Claude cost?
The Free plan costs $0. Pro costs $17 a month with annual billing, meaning $200 paid upfront, or $20 month to month. Max costs $100 or $200 a month, monthly only. Team costs $20 per seat per month billed annually ($25 month to month), and $100 for a Premium seat. All these prices are in US dollars, excluding tax.
How much does Claude Pro cost in euros or other currencies?
Anthropic does not publish a price list in euros: the official reference is $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually, excluding tax. The amount in your local currency, including tax depending on your situation, is shown on claude.ai/upgrade before you pay. A subscription taken out on mobile may show a different price.
What is the difference between free and paid Claude?
The free plan gives you chat, web search, file analysis and memory with the Sonnet and Haiku models. Paid plans add at least five times more usage per session, the Opus model, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and projects with no stated cap. The difference is mainly about volume and the uses where Claude works on its own.
Which Claude plan should I choose?
Occasional use: Free. Daily professional use: Pro, the best value for money. Heavy, continuous use: Max 5x, only after hitting the Pro cap for several weeks. A team of two people or more: Team. Compliance requirements: Enterprise.
How does a Claude subscription work?
You subscribe monthly or, for Pro and Team, annually with a single upfront payment. Every plan has a usage limit per five-hour session, and paid plans have a weekly limit shared between chat and Claude Code. An upgrade is immediate, a downgrade takes effect at the end of the billing period, and you cancel in Settings, then Billing.
Is Claude Code included in the Claude subscription?
Yes. Claude Code is included in every paid plan, from Pro to Enterprise, with no separate subscription. It shares the same quota as your conversations. It is not available on the free plan.
Is a Claude subscription unlimited?
No. From Free to Team, every plan has a limit per five-hour session, and paid plans add a weekly limit. On Pro, Max and Team, you can keep going beyond it with usage credits billed at API rates.
Can I get a refund on a Claude subscription?
Payments are generally non-refundable. In Europe and the UK, however, you can request a refund in the app during the 14-day withdrawal period. A subscription taken out through the App Store is refunded by Apple.
Train your team on Claude
I work with companies so the tool actually delivers: real use cases, a working method, and what you should not hand over to it.
Written by
Anthony Courtin
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