What is Claude AI? Plans, usage limits and how to get started for small businesses

What is Claude AI? It is a conversational AI assistant built by Anthropic. You can use Claude to write, summarize documents, analyze data and code. Claude has a free plan for trying it out, paid plans for individuals, and Team or Enterprise plans for businesses.

What is Claude AI and who makes it?

Claude is the name of a chatbot and also of the family of large language models (LLMs) that run behind it. Both are made by Anthropic. On its website, the company's legal name is Anthropic PBC.

According to a summary article by TOS, Anthropic was founded in 2021. Its founders are former OpenAI members, including the siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei. Summary sources such as TopDev and TOS also mention a training approach called "Constitutional AI". With this approach, the model is guided by a written set of principles so that it responds more safely.

Anthropic currently splits Claude models into several families. The three that general users meet most often are:

• Haiku: fast and light on resources, suited to simple tasks.
• Sonnet: a balance between speed and capability.
• Opus: more capable, meant for complex work.

The pricing page also lists other families, such as Fable and Mythos. Each plan gets access to different models. Version numbers change quickly, so check Anthropic's own pages when you need to know the latest model.

What can Claude do for a small business?

AI-generated illustration

According to the official pricing page, even the free plan includes:

• Chat on the web, the desktop app and mobile (iOS, Android).
• Web search, file creation and code execution.
• Memory across conversations.
• Connections to other apps and tools (Connectors).
• Artifacts: a panel that shows results next to the chat, such as a web page, a chart or a document.
• Claude Design, Slides and Docs.
• Voice mode and incognito chats.

For office staff, accountants and part-time IT staff, typical uses are:

• Drafting and editing emails, reports and long documents.
• Summarizing contracts or attached files (PDF, Word).
• Analyzing spreadsheets and explaining formulas.
• Writing or fixing small pieces of code and automation scripts.

An article by MONA Media says Claude is strong at long documents and coherent reasoning, and that it works in many languages, including Vietnamese. This is that publisher's view, not an independent test result. A person should still check what the AI produces, especially accounting figures and anything sent to customers.

Comparing Claude plans: Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise

The table below summarizes the main differences based on Anthropic's pricing page. For actual prices, see the vendor's pricing page.

Anthropic also offers an Education plan for universities. It is not meant for businesses.

A few details on payment and data policy, also from the pricing page:

• Payment: Pro, Max and Team are paid by credit card. Pro can be billed monthly or annually; Max is billed monthly only. Invoicing is available only on Enterprise bought through the sales team.
• Use of data for model training: for Free, Pro and Max, the pricing page says "Opt-out", which means you have to choose to opt out yourself. On Team and Enterprise, content is not used for training by default.

Usage limits: there is no "unlimited" plan

According to the FAQ on the pricing page, every plan has usage limits. Limits reset on a rolling five-hour window, and paid plans add weekly limits on top. There is no fixed message count. How much you can do depends on how long and complex your conversations are, which model you choose and which features you use.

The reference levels Anthropic gives:

• Pro gets at least 5x the usage of Free per five-hour window.
• Max gets 5x or 20x the usage of Pro.
• All activity on web, desktop, mobile and Claude Code draws from the same pool.

So if you are looking for a way to use Claude AI without limits, the practical answer is that there is no official way. You can only choose a plan with a higher limit.

Which plan should you choose?

AI-generated illustration

You can use these criteria:

1. Just exploring, a few uses a day: start with Free. It is enough to see whether Claude fits your work.
2. One person using it constantly and often hitting Free limits: consider Pro, especially if you need unlimited Projects, the Opus model or Claude for Microsoft 365.
3. Using it almost all day and often cut off by limits: Max is the option for individuals.
4. Two or more people who need to share documents and central management: Team fits better than buying several separate Pro accounts. Team has project sharing, SSO, central admin, and by default does not use content for model training.
5. You need access control, audit logs or invoice-based payment: contact the sales team about Enterprise.

Small businesses usually need to weigh two more points. The first is how to pay: credit card or bank transfer against an invoice. The second is data policy. If staff will put internal documents into Claude, the difference in model training between individual plans and Team deserves a close look.

How to get started with Claude AI

Create an account

The guides from TopDev, MONA Media and TOS describe much the same process:

1. Go to claude.ai/login, or download the Claude app from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Enter your email, or choose to sign in with a Google account.
3. Open your email, get the verification code Claude sent and enter it in the verification field.
4. Choose your country, enter your phone number and confirm you are at least 18.
5. Enter the verification code sent by text message. When the chat screen appears, you are signed up.

Button names and the order of steps may differ slightly depending on timing and interface language.

Download and install Claude on your computer

According to Anthropic's help center, the Claude Desktop app runs on:

• macOS 13 (Ventura) or later.
• Windows 10 or later.
• Linux (beta): Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later or Debian 12 or later, on x64 or arm64.

To install on Windows and macOS:

1. Go to the downloads page (Download apps) on the Claude website.
2. Choose the version for your operating system and click "Download".
3. Open the downloaded file to install.
4. Launch Claude from the Applications folder (Mac) or the Start menu (Windows).
5. Sign in with the account you created.

On Linux, Anthropic recommends installing from its apt repository so the app updates along with the system. After installing, you can go to Settings > Extensions in the app to browse extensions. These let Claude connect to files, calendars or email on your computer.

The desktop app also has a feature called Claude Cowork, available on paid plans only. With Cowork, you can hand Claude multi-step tasks, such as organizing files or building spreadsheets with formulas, without using a terminal. According to Anthropic, Cowork runs code in an isolated virtual machine on your computer and only reads and writes in the folders you allow.

Using Claude with Excel

On October 27, 2025, Anthropic announced a beta of Claude for Excel. Claude appears in a sidebar inside Microsoft Excel and can read, analyze, modify and create workbooks. Anthropic says Claude explains the changes it makes, keeps the structure and formula links intact, and lets you jump straight to the cells it mentions. At launch, the feature was open to Max, Team and Enterprise users through a waitlist.

The current pricing page lists Claude for Microsoft 365 in Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. The Free plan does not include it. If you need Claude inside Excel, check your plan on Anthropic's pricing and help pages before buying.

Data considerations for business use

• Do not paste sensitive data (customer details, payroll, account numbers) into an individual plan until you have read the data policy and opted out of training if needed.
• Use incognito chats for questions you do not want saved. Every plan has this mode.
• Consider the Team plan when several people use Claude. It has central admin and by default does not use content for model training.
• Ask a legal professional if your AI use involves personal data of customers or employees. This article does not draw conclusions about legal compliance.

Frequently asked questions

What country is Claude AI from?

Claude is developed by Anthropic; its legal name on the website is Anthropic PBC. According to a summary article by TOS, the company was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI members. To confirm the exact legal headquarters, check the company page on Anthropic's website.

Is there a way to get Claude AI Pro for free?

The official pricing page has only one free plan, Free; Pro is a paid plan. Free already includes chat, web search, file creation, Artifacts and up to 5 Projects. Be careful with free Pro offers outside the official site, especially shared accounts.

Can you use Claude AI without limits?

No. According to Anthropic, every plan has usage limits that reset on a five-hour window, and paid plans add weekly limits. To use more, you can only move up to a plan with a higher limit, such as Pro, Max or a Team Premium seat.

Does Claude AI work in Vietnamese?

Yes, you can ask questions and get answers in Vietnamese. Some Vietnamese publishers, such as MONA Media, say Claude handles Vietnamese well. For the interface language, check your account settings, as the options may change over time.

Can you install Claude in Excel?

Yes. Anthropic released Claude for Excel, which runs as a sidebar inside Excel; it started as a beta for Max, Team and Enterprise. The pricing page currently lists Claude for Microsoft 365 from Pro upward, while Free does not include it.