Claude

Claude is a conversational AI assistant from Anthropic, used through the web app, mobile apps, and the API. It handles long-form writing, analysis, coding, document reading, and multi-step reasoning, with an emphasis on careful, steerable responses.

The lineup has moved well past the earlier Claude 3 / Sonnet era. The most capable widely released model is now Claude Fable 5, generally available since June 9, 2026. The current family also includes Claude Opus 4.8 for complex agentic coding and enterprise work, Claude Sonnet 5 (released June 30, 2026), and the lighter Claude Haiku 4.5. A separate Claude Mythos 5 exists but is invitation-only through Project Glasswing.

The biggest practical change is context: current models offer a 1M-token context window rather than the older 200K, so you can load large codebases, long documents, or entire transcripts in a single conversation. The models also cover multimodal input and tool use across the product.

Pricing is tiered. The Free plan is $0. Pro is $20/month, or $17/month billed annually ($200/year). Max ranges from $100/month (5x usage) up to $200/month (20x usage). Team offers a Standard seat at $25/month ($20 annual) and a Premium seat at $125/month ($100 annual), with a five-seat minimum. Enterprise is custom, starting around $20/seat plus usage. API list pricing per million tokens is $10/$50 for Fable 5, $5/$25 for Opus 4.8, $3/$15 for Sonnet 5 (with a $2/$10 intro rate through Aug 31, 2026), and $1/$5 for Haiku 4.5.

Limitations are worth noting. Free and even paid plans have usage caps that reset on a rolling basis, so heavy users can hit limits mid-session. The most capable models are the most expensive on the API, and the top-end Mythos 5 is not openly available. As with any LLM, outputs still need checking for factual accuracy.

Claude suits writers, developers, analysts, and teams who want strong reasoning, large-context handling, and a choice of models to balance cost against capability.