# Is Claude free? Yes, the Free plan costs $0, Pro is $20 a month

> Claude's Free plan covers everyday chat, search and file creation with five-hour usage windows. Claude Code, Opus and Research need Pro.

URL: https://claudegpt.si/news/is-claude-free  
Published: 2026-10-27T02:50:06.911Z  
Author: ClaudeGPT Si Newsroom  
Section: Apps  
Topics: Claude, Anthropic, Pricing, Claude Pro  
Publisher: ClaudeGPT Si

## Key takeaways

- Claude has a Free plan at $0 with chat, web search, file creation, memory and Artifacts, as of October 27, 2026.
- Free has no Claude Code, Opus, Research or usage credits, and Projects are capped at 5.
- Pro costs $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually, and adds at least 5x the Free usage per five-hour session.

Yes, Claude is free. Anthropic's [pricing page](https://claude.com/pricing) lists a Free plan at $0 that covers everyday questions, with usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour window. Paid plans start at $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually, as of October 27, 2026.

## What the free Claude plan includes

As of October 27, 2026, the pricing page lists these features on the Free plan:

- Chat on web, desktop and mobile
- Web search, file creation and code execution
- Memory across conversations
- Connections to your apps and tools
- Artifacts
- Claude Design, Slides and Docs

## What Free does not include

The same page shows what you give up at $0. Free has no Claude Code, no Opus models, no Research, no Claude Dashboards and no usage credits. Projects are capped at 5.

## How much you can use Claude for free

Anthropic does not publish a message count for Free. The pricing page says only that Free covers everyday questions and that limits reset on a rolling five-hour window. Treat any exact number you see elsewhere as a guess.

Anthropic's help article on [usage and length limits](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11647753-how-do-usage-and-length-limits-work) describes the paid plans in more detail. It says they have a session limit that resets every five hours, plus weekly limits that reset once a week, with paid plans offering higher limits. It gives no Free allowance.

## Claude plans and prices

Prices below are from the pricing page, read on October 27, 2026.

| Plan | Price | What changes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | Everyday use, rolling five-hour limits |
| Pro | $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front), or $20 billed monthly | Claude Code, Opus, Research, Projects, at least 5x the Free usage per five-hour session, weekly limits |
| Max | From $100 a month | 5x or 20x Pro usage, higher output limits, priority access at busy times |
| Team | Standard seat $20 a month billed annually ($25 monthly); Premium seat $100 annually ($125 monthly) | 2 to 150 users, admin controls, SSO, central billing |
| Enterprise | $20 per seat a month billed annually, 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates | Audit logs, SCIM, role-based access, custom data retention |

## When the API is a better fit than a plan

Chat plans and the API are billed separately. The API charges per million tokens. On October 27, 2026 the pricing page lists Sonnet 5.5 at $2 for input and $10 for output, and Haiku 5.5 at $0.10 for input and $0.50 for output. Batch processing is 50% cheaper. Our guide on [how to check Claude token usage](https://claudegpt.si/news/claude-how-to-check-token-usage) shows where to see usage in the app, in Claude Code and in the API Console.

## What to watch

Plans and limits change, and Anthropic does not guarantee a Free allowance. If Claude tells you that you have reached your limit, the pricing page says Pro raises usage to at least 5x per five-hour session. Check [claude.com/pricing](https://claude.com/pricing) for the current numbers before you decide.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Claude Pro cost?

As of October 27, 2026, Pro is $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front) or $20 a month billed monthly.

### Does the free Claude plan have usage limits?

Yes. The pricing page says Free covers everyday questions and limits reset on a rolling five-hour window. Anthropic does not publish a message count.

### Can I use Claude Code for free?

Not on the Free plan. The pricing page lists Claude Code as a Pro feature and above.

### Is the Claude API free?

No. The API is billed per million tokens, separately from chat plans. Sonnet 5.5 is $2 input and $10 output as of October 27, 2026.

## Sources

- [Claude pricing](https://claude.com/pricing), Anthropic
- [How do usage and length limits work?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11647753-how-do-usage-and-length-limits-work), Anthropic