Claude has five app plans and one metered API. All of them run the same models; they differ in usage allowance, features and who they are aimed at. Here they are as recorded in the OverpayingForAI catalogue at the time of writing. Verify the live numbers on the Claude pricing page before you buy.
What each plan is really for
- Free is a working product, not a demo. If you use Claude a few times a day for short tasks, you may never need to pay.
- Pro is for people who hit the free limit most days or who want Claude Code, extended thinking and the full model menu without friction.
- Max is for people who hit *Pro's* limit most days — typically Claude Code users running long sessions. It is a usage allowance, not a smarter Claude.
- Team and Enterprise are about administration: shared billing, workspace management, security and compliance. Per-seat prices change; use the official page.
- The API is for automation and building. It is also the cheapest option for people who use Claude in bursts — a heavy week, then nothing.
The break-even test
Estimate what your month would cost on the API, then compare it with the subscription. A typical chat turn on Sonnet 5 — a 500-word question against a 2,000-word history, with a 400-word answer — costs about a cent. Twenty of those a day for a month is roughly $6. That is well under Pro's $20, so a light user is overpaying on Pro *if* they are comfortable with an API-based client.
Now flip it. A Claude Code session can move millions of tokens an hour. Two hours a day on Opus 5 through the API can run to hundreds of dollars a month; Max at $100 or $200 caps that. Heavy agentic users are underpaying on Max, which is precisely why the plan exists.
| Your pattern | Cheapest fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A few short chats a day | Free | Under the daily limit; nothing to pay for |
| Daily writing, research, some coding | Pro | Removes limit friction for less than the API would cost at this volume |
| Claude Code for hours every day | Max | Caps a bill that would be far higher metered |
| Bursty: heavy one week, idle three | API | Idle months cost $0 |
| Automations, apps, pipelines | API | The only option; add batch and caching from lesson 8 |
| A team that needs shared billing and admin | Team | Pay for administration, not intelligence |
Run the numbers
Knowledge check
You use Claude heavily for one week a month and barely touch it otherwise. Which meter is cheapest?