Prices and plans below were checked on Oct 16, 2026, on Claude's official pricing page.
"Which Claude plan should I buy?" is one of the questions I get most. In Club Jam, at workshops, in my DMs. And I get it. You open the pricing page, you see Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise, seat types, API credits, and your brain quietly closes the tab.
So let's make this simple. I'm going to walk you through every current Claude plan, what you actually get, what it costs, and which one a small business really needs. Spoiler: most of you need one plan, and it's not the most expensive one.
The short answer
If you only read one paragraph, read this one:
- Just curious? Start on Free ($0).
- Using Claude for your business every week? Get Pro ($20/month, or $17/month if you pay for the year).
- Living in Claude all day and hitting limits constantly? Look at Max (starts at $100/month).
- Two or more people on your team using it? Look at Team (starts at $25 per seat per month).
- Big company with IT and compliance needs? That's Enterprise.
Now let's unpack each one so you can choose with confidence.
Plan 1: Claude Free ($0)
Free is exactly what it sounds like, and it's more generous than most people expect. According to Anthropic's pricing page, Free includes:
- Chat on the web, desktop app and mobile app
- Web search
- File creation and code execution
- Memory
- Artifacts, plus Claude Design, Slides and Docs
- Skills and connectors
- Up to 5 projects
The catch? Free uses the Sonnet and Haiku models only, and the usage limits are the lowest of any plan. You also don't get Research, Claude Code, or Claude in Chrome.
Who it's for: anyone testing the waters. If you've never used Claude, start here. Write a few emails, brainstorm a few social posts, ask it to explain a contract. You'll know within a week whether you want more.
Plan 2: Claude Pro ($20/month)
This is the plan I recommend to almost every small business owner I work with. Pro is $20 a month if you pay monthly, or $17 a month if you pay $200 up front for the year.
Here's what Pro adds on top of Free:
- Way more usage. At least 5x the usage of Free per 5-hour session.
- Opus, Anthropic's most capable model family, for your harder thinking work
- Research, for deeper digging on a topic
- Claude Code, so you can build pages, tools and automations
- Claude in Chrome and Claude for Microsoft 365
- Unlimited projects instead of 5
- The option to turn on usage credits when you hit a limit
Pro is also where Cowork lives. Anthropic says Cowork is rolling out to Pro and Max first. If you want the full story on that, I wrote a whole post on Cowork and the Pro plan.
Who it's for: solo business owners, consultants, coaches, real estate agents, shop owners. Anyone using Claude a few times a week (or a few times a day) to write, plan, research and build. For most people, this is the sweet spot.
Quick tip: monthly or yearly?
Start monthly. Use it hard for 30 to 60 days. If you're reaching for Claude every day, switch to annual and save. Paying monthly first means you never commit to something you don't actually use.
Plan 3: Claude Max (from $100/month)
Max is for power users. It comes in two levels, according to Anthropic's Max plan help article:
| Plan | Price | Usage | Monthly API credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max 5x | $100/month | 5x Pro usage | $100 |
| Max 20x | $200/month | 20x Pro usage | $200 |
Both Max levels include everything in Pro, plus higher output limits, early access to new features, and priority access when Claude is busy. Max is billed monthly only. Anthropic notes these are web prices, and buying through a mobile app store may cost differently.
Who it's for: people who hit their Pro limit regularly and it actually slows down their business. If you're building with Claude Code most days, running long projects, or using Claude as your full-time operating system, Max pays for itself fast.
Who it's not for: people who hit the limit once and panic. Before you upgrade, try working smarter. I have a whole post on cutting your Claude usage in half, and many people never need Max after reading it.
Plan 4: Claude Team (from $25 per seat/month)
Team is for businesses with 2 to 150 people. You buy a seat for each person, and you can mix two kinds of seats:
| Seat type | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $25 per seat/month | $20 per seat/month | More usage than Pro |
| Premium | $125 per seat/month | $100 per seat/month | 5x the usage of Standard |
What makes Team different from just buying everyone Pro is the business layer:
- Project sharing, so your team works from the same playbooks and files
- Central billing, one invoice instead of five credit cards
- Admin controls for which connectors people can use
- Single sign-on (SSO) and usage analytics
- Enterprise search across your connected tools
- Pooled API credits (Anthropic lists up to $500 per month)
Who it's for: small teams who want to work from shared projects and keep billing in one place. A nice setup for a lot of small businesses: give most of the team Standard seats and give your heaviest user (often the owner) a Premium seat.
Plan 5: Claude Enterprise
Enterprise is built for larger organizations. Anthropic's pricing page lists it at US$20 per seat per month, billed annually, with a 20-seat minimum, plus usage billed at API rates. So your real cost depends on how much your team uses it.
Enterprise adds the things IT and compliance teams care about: SCIM, role-based access, audit logs, custom data retention, IP allowlisting and a HIPAA-ready option. Some parts, like invoicing and dedicated support, go through Anthropic's sales team.
Who it's for: companies with an IT department, regulated industries, or 20+ people who need security controls. If that's not you, Team or Pro is the better fit.
Every Claude plan side by side
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Trying Claude out |
| Pro | $20/mo or $17/mo yearly | Most solo business owners |
| Max 5x | $100/mo | Daily heavy users |
| Max 20x | $200/mo | All-day builders |
| Team Standard | $25/seat/mo or $20 yearly | Teams of 2 to 150 |
| Team Premium | $125/seat/mo or $100 yearly | Team power users |
| Enterprise | $20/seat/mo yearly + usage | Larger companies, 20+ seats |
Prices change, so always double-check the official Claude pricing page before you buy.
How to pick the right plan in 3 questions
1. How often will you use it?
A few times a month? Free. A few times a week or more? Pro. All day, every day? Max.
2. Are you building things, or just chatting?
If you want Claude to build landing pages, tools or automations with Claude Code, you need at least Pro. Free doesn't include it.
3. Is anyone else on your team using it?
If two or more people need Claude for work and you want shared projects and one bill, go Team. If it's just you, stay on Pro or Max.
The mistake I see most often
People pay for the plan, then use Claude like a fancy Google search. That's like buying a commercial kitchen to make toast.
The plan matters way less than how you use it. Someone on Pro who has set up projects, memory, skills and a couple of connectors will get more done than someone on Max typing one-off questions. Setup is where the magic happens, not the price tag.
As an Official Claude Partner, I can tell you this: the people who get the most out of Claude aren't the ones paying the most. They're the ones who learned the basics and built a few simple systems.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude free to use?
Yes. Claude has a Free plan at $0 that includes chat, web search, memory, file creation and up to 5 projects. It uses the Sonnet and Haiku models and has lower usage limits than paid plans.
How much is Claude Pro?
Claude Pro is $20 per month billed monthly, or $17 per month when you pay $200 for the year, as listed on claude.com/pricing on Oct 16, 2026.
What's the difference between Claude Pro and Max?
Max includes everything in Pro with much more usage. Max 5x ($100/month) gives 5x Pro usage, and Max 20x ($200/month) gives 20x Pro usage. Max also adds monthly API credits, higher output limits, early feature access and priority access.
Does the Claude Free plan include Claude Code?
No. Claude Code starts on the Pro plan. Free does not include it.
How much does Claude Team cost?
Team Standard seats are $25 per seat per month (or $20 billed annually), and Premium seats are $125 per seat per month (or $100 billed annually). Team needs at least 2 seats and supports up to 150.
What happens when I hit my Claude usage limit?
Limits reset on a rolling 5-hour window, and paid plans also have weekly limits. On a paid plan you can turn on usage credits to keep working at standard API rates, or wait for your limit to reset.
Which Claude plan is best for a small business?
For most solo owners, Pro is the best fit. If two or more people need it and you want shared projects and one bill, choose Team. Upgrade to Max only if you regularly hit your Pro limits.
Ready to get your money's worth from Claude?
Picking a plan is step one. Knowing what to actually do with it is where most people get stuck.
That's exactly why I built Club Jam. Inside you'll find 220+ step-by-step modules, live calls where we build together, and a community of everyday business owners figuring this out right alongside you. It's why we have 93% retention. People stay because they keep getting results.
It's $47/mo on Skool, cancel anytime. Come set up Claude the right way, with people who get it. 🧡