Choose the right Claude plan

Claude has plans for individuals and for organisations. This article explains what changes between them in plain terms, so you can choose without reading a long comparison table. Prices and exact limits change regularly, so for current numbers always check the official Claude pricing page.

The short answer

• Trying Claude out: start on Free.
• Using Claude for your own work every day: Pro.
• Hitting Pro limits often, or running long coding sessions: Max.
• A company or team of people who share work: Team.
• A larger organisation with security, compliance or identity requirements: Enterprise.

Plans for individuals

Free

Free lets you chat with Claude on the web, desktop and mobile, upload files, and use features such as web search, artifacts and skills. Usage is limited, so you will hit a pause on busy days. It is a good way to learn how Claude thinks before you pay.

Pro

Pro is the plan most professionals start with. Compared to Free you get:

• More usage per session.
• Access to more Claude models.
• Claude Code, the coding and file assistant (terminal, desktop app and web).
• Research and extra tools such as the browser and Microsoft 365 extensions.

Max

Max includes everything in Pro with a much higher usage allowance. It comes in two levels, each with more headroom than Pro. People who run Claude Code for hours a day, or who hit the Pro limit before lunch, usually move here. Max also gets priority access when demand is high and early access to some new features.

Tip: Not sure whether you need Max? Stay on Pro for two weeks and note how often you hit the limit. If it happens several times a week and blocks real work, upgrade. If it happens once in a while, it is usually cheaper to wait for the reset.

Plans for organisations

Team

Team is built for groups that work together. On top of Claude’s features it adds:

• Central billing and one admin place for all members.
• Single sign-on (SSO).
• Admin control over which connectors and features people can use.
• Shared projects and organisation-wide skills.
• Seat types you can mix, so heavy users can have more capacity than occasional users.

Enterprise

Enterprise adds what larger organisations need: role-based permissions, user provisioning (SCIM), audit logs, custom data retention and compliance options. It is usually arranged with Anthropic’s sales team.

How your data is treated

This is often the deciding factor for businesses, so check it before you choose.

Plan type	Terms that apply	Your chats and model training
Free, Pro, Max	Consumer terms	You choose in your privacy settings whether chats may be used to improve Claude
Team, Enterprise	Commercial terms	Covered by the organisation’s commercial agreement, not the consumer setting

Warning: If you handle client data, personal data or anything under an NDA, read Memory, privacy and your data before you pick a personal plan for work use. For a team, a Team or Enterprise plan is usually the right home for client work.

Usage limits in practice

Every plan has a usage limit. It is not a fixed number of messages: long chats, large files and heavy tools use more of your allowance than short questions. When you reach the limit, Claude shows when it resets.

To stretch your allowance:

1. Start a new chat when you change topic, instead of continuing a very long one.
2. Put recurring background material in a Project rather than pasting it every time.
3. Only attach the files Claude actually needs.
4. Turn off connectors and tools you are not using in that chat.

Changing or cancelling your plan

You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel from your account settings in Claude (look for the billing or subscription section). An upgrade usually applies straight away. A downgrade or cancellation normally takes effect at the end of the current billing period. If you subscribed through the iOS or Android app, you manage the subscription in that app store instead.

Next steps

• Install Claude
• Memory, privacy and your data
• Install Claude Code