What Is Claude? Anthropic's AI Assistant Explained
What is Anthropic Claude? A plain guide to the Claude apps, models, plans, API and Claude Code, plus Projects, Artifacts and connectors, checked October 2026.
By Claudekit Team Published 9 min read
Claude is Anthropic’s AI assistant and the family of large language models behind it. You can chat with Claude on the web, desktop and mobile apps, hand it tasks that produce files, let it code in your repository with Claude Code, or call its models from your own software through the Claude API.
That’s the short answer. The rest of this page explains each part of the Claude ecosystem in plain terms and links to our deeper guides, so you can jump straight to the piece you need. Facts were checked against Anthropic’s official pages on October 24, 2026. Claudekit.ai is an independent community site, not affiliated with Anthropic.
Who makes Claude?
Claude is built by Anthropic, an AI research company. On its company page, Anthropic describes itself as “a public benefit corporation dedicated to securing [AI’s] benefits and mitigating its risks”, and says it aims to build AI systems that are “reliable, interpretable, and steerable”.
That safety focus shows up in the product. Anthropic publishes Claude’s constitution, a document describing the values and behaviour it trains Claude towards, and releases it under a CC0 public-domain licence. Its consumer apps also run safety classifiers, which occasionally stop a reply or a visible thought process when a request looks risky.
The Claude ecosystem at a glance
“Claude” now means several products that share the same models. This table maps them.
| Product | What it is | Who it’s for | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude apps (web, desktop, mobile) | Chat assistant that can also run longer tasks and create files | Everyone | Claude Desktop |
| Claude models | Fable, Opus, Sonnet and Haiku lines | Anyone choosing speed vs capability | Claude models explained |
| Claude Code | Agentic coding tool for terminal, IDE, desktop and web | Developers | What is Claude Code? |
| Claude API | Programmatic access to the models, billed per token | Developers building products | Claude API tutorial |
| Projects | Workspaces with shared files and instructions | Repeat work on the same material | Claude Projects |
| Artifacts | Docs, decks, designs, dashboards and small apps beside the chat | Anyone producing something to share | Claude Artifacts |
| Connectors and MCP | Links Claude to apps such as Drive, Slack or Linear | Teams with data in other tools | What is MCP? |
| Extensions | Claude in Chrome, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook and more | People who live in those apps | Claude Chrome extensions |
Where you can use Claude
Web, desktop and mobile
The core experience lives at claude.ai. Anthropic’s download page offers desktop apps for macOS, Windows (including Arm64) and Linux and mobile apps for iOS and Android. The Help Center says the desktop app needs macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 or later, or Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+ for the Linux beta. The apps are available on every plan, including Free.
The desktop app matters more than it used to. It is where Claude Code and Claude Cowork run locally on paid plans, and where Claude can work with folders on your computer. Our Claude Desktop guide covers install and features, and Claude Desktop MCP setup shows how to add local tools.
Chat and Cowork, merging into one
Claude started as a chat window. Anthropic then added Claude Cowork, which takes on multi-step tasks such as research, spreadsheets and presentations, and hands back finished files. According to the Help Center, Anthropic is now rolling out a single experience that merges chat and Cowork into one conversation, starting with Pro and Max on web, desktop and mobile. Longer tasks keep running in the cloud even if you close your laptop, and you can schedule recurring work.
Extensions inside other apps
The download page lists Claude extensions for Chrome, Slack, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook (beta) and Google Workspace (beta). Claude in Chrome is a browser extension that can read, click and navigate websites with you; the Help Center lists it for paid plans. In Slack, the current integration is called Claude Tag: you tag @Claude in a channel and it works on the task, in beta for Team and Enterprise.
The Claude models
Every Claude product runs on the same model family. As of October 24, 2026, Anthropic’s models overview lists four current models:
| Model | Positioning in Anthropic’s docs | API price (input / output per million tokens) |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Demanding reasoning and long-horizon agentic work | $10 / $50 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Long-running agentic coding and knowledge work | $4 / $20 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Best combination of speed and intelligence | $2 / $10 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | High-volume, latency-sensitive tasks | From $0.10 / $0.50 |
All four have a 1M-token context window and accept text and images. In the apps you pick a model and an effort level from the menu next to the send button. Higher effort gives more thorough answers but uses your limits faster.
For model IDs, availability on cloud platforms and how to choose, read Claude models explained. For per-token costs and worked examples, see our Claude API pricing guide.
Claude plans and pricing
Claude’s subscription plans, as listed on claude.com/pricing on October 24, 2026:
| Plan | Price (USD) | Notable inclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Chat on all apps, web search, file creation, code execution, memory, connectors, Artifacts |
| Pro | $20/month, or $17/month billed annually | More usage, Claude Code, Projects, more models, Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365 |
| Max | From $100/month | 5x or 20x Pro usage, higher output limits, priority access |
| Team | $25 or $125 per seat/month ($20 or $100 annually) | Shared workspace, admin controls, SSO, Claude Code |
| Enterprise | From $20/seat/month annually plus usage | SCIM, audit logs, compliance features, custom retention |
Fable models are available on all paid plans but are handled differently: on Max and Team premium seats they’re part of your plan, while on Pro and Team standard seats they run on pay-as-you-go usage credits, per Anthropic’s Help Center.
Our Claude pricing guide explains usage limits and each plan in detail, and Claude Pro vs Max helps if you’re deciding whether to upgrade.
Key features you’ll use
Projects
A Project is a workspace with its own chat history, uploaded knowledge and custom instructions. Every chat inside it starts with that context. Projects are available on all plans; Free accounts can create up to five. Paid plans automatically switch large projects to retrieval mode, which Anthropic says expands capacity by up to 10x. Details in our Claude Projects guide.
Artifacts
An Artifact is something Claude makes that you’d put in front of someone, such as a document, deck, design, dashboard or small interactive tool. It opens beside the conversation and can be edited and shared. See Claude Artifacts.
Connectors and MCP
Connectors let Claude read from and act in other services, for example creating Linear issues, sending Slack messages or searching Google Drive. Claude inherits each person’s permissions from the connected service. Under the hood, connectors use the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard you can also use to add your own tools. Our What is MCP? guide explains it from scratch.
Memory and skills
Memory is on by default on Free, Pro and Max, so Claude can build on earlier conversations; Team and Enterprise owners decide whether to enable it. Skills package repeatable procedures, such as how to build a spreadsheet the way your team likes. Our Claude Code skills guide shows how they’re written.
Claude for developers
Claude Code
Claude Code is Anthropic’s agentic coding tool. It reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands and works with git from the terminal, IDE extensions, the desktop app or the web. It’s included on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Start with What is Claude Code?, which links to every Claude Code guide on this site.
The Claude API and agents
The Claude API gives your own code access to the same models through a single Messages endpoint, plus tools, batch processing and prompt caching. You create an API key in the Claude Console and pay per token. Begin with our Claude API tutorial and Claude API key guide.
Anthropic also offers higher-level ways to build agents: the Claude Agent SDK, which packages the Claude Code harness as a library, and Managed Agents, where Anthropic hosts the agent loop and sandbox. Our Claude agents guide compares the options.
Claude models are also available through cloud platforms, including Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud and Microsoft Foundry, for organisations that buy through those providers.
How Claude compares
Claude competes most directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Each has free and paid tiers, multimodal models and agent features, and they leapfrog one another often. Our Claude vs ChatGPT comparison covers everyday use, writing and research; Claude vs ChatGPT vs Gemini adds Google to the picture.
How to get started
- Sign up at claude.ai and try the Free plan on a real task from your week.
- Install the desktop or mobile app if you want Claude outside the browser.
- Create a Project for anything you’ll return to, and add your key documents.
- Learn to write clear requests with our Claude prompting best practices.
- If you write code, install Claude Code and follow our getting started guide.
As you add skills, connectors and tools, you’re building your own Claude kit: the set of resources that makes Claude useful for the way you work.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude made by Anthropic?
Yes. Claude is a family of AI models and the assistant built on them, both made by Anthropic, an AI safety and research company structured as a public benefit corporation. You use Claude through claude.ai, the desktop and mobile apps, Claude Code, or the Claude API.
Is Claude AI free?
Yes, there is a Free plan that includes chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code execution, memory, connectors and Artifacts, with the lowest usage limits. Paid plans (Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise) add more usage, more models and Claude Code.
What is the difference between Claude and the Claude API?
Claude (claude.ai and the apps) is the ready-made assistant you chat with on a subscription. The Claude API is for developers who want to call Claude models from their own code, billed per token through the Claude Console. A subscription does not include general API access.
What is the latest Claude model?
As of October 24, 2026, Anthropic's current lineup is Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5. Anthropic's docs suggest starting with Opus 5.5 for most API workloads and moving to Fable 5.1 for the hardest long-running work.
Is Claude better than ChatGPT?
Neither is better for everyone. Both offer free and paid plans, strong models, file handling and connectors. The practical answer is to run your own real tasks through both; our Claude vs ChatGPT comparison walks through everyday use, writing, research and plans.