Claude Free Plan

1:37 Claude is free: the Free plan costs $0, is "Free for everyone", and gives "Limited usage every 5 hours and every week", as of Nov 6, 2026. It includes chat with Claude Sonnet and Claude Haiku on the web, desktop and phone, web search, file creation and code execution, memory, connectors, Artifacts and Skills. It leaves out Claude Code, Research, the Opus and Fable models and unlimited Projects. Anthropic sums it up as covering "everyday questions".

Quick facts

Source: Plans & pricing, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026.

What the Free plan includes

The pricing table marks these as included on Free: chat on the web, iOS, Android and desktop; Artifacts; Claude Design, Claude Docs and Claude Slides; Connectors; creating and editing files with code execution (File Creation); desktop extensions; incognito chats; Memory; Skills; user preferences; voice mode; and web search (Plans & pricing). Memory reached Free users on Mar 2, 2026, and Design, Slides and Docs came to every plan including Free on Sep 16, 2026.

A few features are cut down rather than missing. Free users can create at most five projects, add one custom connector, and connect one tool in voice mode. Searching past chats is a paid feature (Memory and chat search).

Two help articles describe Claude Design, Slides and Docs as "on paid plans" while the pricing table lists all three for Free; the pricing table and the Sep 16, 2026 release note are the more specific, so this page follows them (Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude; Release notes).

Which models do free users get?

Free includes Claude Sonnet and Claude Haiku, and not Opus or Fable (Plans & pricing). In the current lineup that means Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5. Anthropic made Sonnet the default for free users through several generations, most recently Sonnet 5 on Jun 30, 2026. Opus needs Claude Pro, and Fable needs Pro with usage credits or a higher plan (Claude Fable models on your plan).

How limited is the Free plan?

Anthropic publishes no message count for Free. The help center describes a session limit that resets every five hours, with the number of messages varying "based on demand" (Get started with Claude); the pricing card adds a weekly limit as well (Plans & pricing). The only published comparison runs the other way: Pro gives "at least 5x more usage per 5-hour session than Free". Long chats, big files, web search and file creation all use more of the allowance. Free users cannot buy usage credits, so a reached limit means waiting or upgrading (Plans & pricing). See Claude Usage Limits and How to Make Claude Usage Limits Last.

What needs a paid plan?

• Claude Code, in the terminal, IDEs, desktop or web.
• Research, multi-step searches with citations.
• Opus models, and Fable.
• Claude in Chrome, Claude for Microsoft 365 and Claude Science.
• Handing off and scheduling tasks, and the beta Claude Dashboards.
• More than five projects, and usage credits past the limits.

Source: Plans & pricing, read Nov 6, 2026. The cheapest plan with all of these is Claude Pro at $20 a month.

Privacy on the Free plan

On Free, as on Pro, Max and Ultra, Anthropic may train on your chats unless you opt out: the pricing table says "Opt-out" for these plans and "None by default" for Team and Enterprise. The switch is Settings > Privacy, "Help Improve our AI models" (How do I change my model improvement privacy settings?). With training allowed, data may be kept in de-identified form for up to five years. Incognito chats are never used for training. Details are on Claude Privacy and Data Use.

How to start

1. Go to claude.ai or download an app from claude.com/download.
2. Sign up with an email address or a Google account.
3. Verify a mobile phone number by SMS; VoIP numbers and landlines are refused, and one number serves at most three accounts.
4. You must be at least 18 and in a supported country.

Claude Free vs ChatGPT Free and Gemini's free tier

Each free tier is generous in a different place. ChatGPT's Free plan advertises "Unlimited text chats with GPT-6" (with abuse guardrails) plus image creation, deep research and Codex, none of which Claude Free offers; OpenAI also tests ads on Free in some countries (ChatGPT release notes). Gemini's free tier includes image generation, Deep Research and 15 GB of storage, but on a Flash-Lite model with a 32k-token context window. Claude Free counters with mid-tier Sonnet models, a context window the pricing page puts at up to 1M tokens, varying by model, file creation, connectors and Claude Design, and it shows no ads. Claude Free cannot make images at all (Can Claude produce images?). Someone who mostly wants images or unmetered casual chat is better served by ChatGPT or Gemini for free; for long documents and writing, Claude Free holds up well. Comparisons: Claude vs ChatGPT, Claude vs Gemini.

Learn more: Is ChatGPT Free on chatgpt.vi.ki, Gemini on ai.vi.ki, Free AI Tools on ai.vi.ki

What reviewers found

2:50 In a Mar 29, 2026 video, Kian of The AI Productivity Coach estimated Free at "roughly around 10 prompts" in a five-hour window, more or less with the size of each prompt, and found that it felt limiting next to ChatGPT and Gemini. He also saw a warning that projects on Free might not last. His count is an estimate from his own use; Anthropic publishes none.

1:25 The AI Advantage, in a Jun 8, 2026 video, likewise called ChatGPT's free plan "way more generous" than Claude's.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude really free? Yes. Claude's Free plan costs $0 with no card required, but usage is limited every five hours and every week, and Claude Code, Research and Opus need a paid plan.

How many messages can you send on Claude Free? Anthropic publishes no fixed number for Claude Free. The limit resets every five hours, varies with demand, and is used faster by long chats, large files and tools.

Does Claude Free include Claude Code? No. Claude Code needs a Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise plan, or a pay-as-you-go Claude Console account.

Can Claude Free use Opus? No. Claude Free includes Sonnet and Haiku; Claude Opus needs Pro or higher.

Does Claude Free have ads? No ads appear on Claude's pricing page or help center for any Claude plan, Free included, as of Nov 6, 2026.

Can I use Claude for free without a phone number? No. Every new Claude account must verify a mobile phone number by SMS, and VoIP numbers are refused.

Sources

• I Tested All Claude Plans So You Don't Have To, The AI Productivity Coach, Mar 29, 2026 (video)
• ChatGPT vs. Claude: Which Should You Use in 2026?, The AI Advantage, Jun 8, 2026 (video)
• Plans & pricing, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
• Get started with Claude, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• What are projects?, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• About connectors, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Use voice mode, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Memory and chat search, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude Cowork and chat are one Claude, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Release notes, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude Fable models on your plan, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Introducing Claude Sonnet 5, Anthropic, Jun 30, 2026
• How do I change my model improvement privacy settings?, Anthropic Privacy Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• How long do you store my data?, Anthropic Privacy Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Verify your phone number, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Minimum age requirement access restriction, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Where can I access Claude?, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Can Claude produce images?, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Download Claude, Anthropic, read Nov 6, 2026
• Plans and Pricing, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Gemini subscriptions (US), Google, read Nov 6, 2026
• Gemini Apps limits and upgrades, Google Gemini Help, read Nov 6, 2026