Claude
Claude is a large language model developed by Anthropic, designed for safe, agentic, and multimodal assistance. Its latest Sonnet 5 model brings advanced reasoning, tool use, and autonomy at accessible cost.
See it in Action
What it does
Claude is a series of large language models (LLMs) built by Anthropic with a focus on safety, reliability, and human-aligned behavior. It handles tasks across text, code, and image modalities, facilitating complex workflows from summarization to code generation and visual design.
It operates as a workspace-oriented AI—capable of chaining operations such as file editing, tool invocation, code execution, and agentic planning within a conversation context. Features like Cowork enable desktop integration, while tool use and skills extend its automation capabilities.
Key Features
- Agentic Model (Sonnet 5): New Sonnet 5 model delivers adaptive thinking, a massive 1M-token context window, cybersecurity safeguards, and improved coding and reasoning performance. Strategic value: Enables complex autonomous tasks with safety built-in.
- Tool Use & Connectors: Claude can call server-side tools (e.g., web search, code execution) and use user-defined client tools, leveraging automatic tool selection. Connector management modes optimize context space. Strategic value: Integrates with external systems for practical automation and information retrieval.
- Skills & Artifacts: Enables automation of workflows via specialized skills (e.g., PowerPoint, Excel) and creates artifact outputs–shareable, editable content pieces. Strategic value: Speeds production of complex deliverables by turning conversation into usable content.
- Safe by Design: Built using Constitutional AI and designed under Anthropic’s oversight philosophy and safety mission, with features like refusal handling in Sonnet 5. Strategic value: Reduces risks in high-stakes AI use cases.
- Platform Reach: Available across Claude.ai web, desktop (Mac, Windows), mobile (iOS, Android), plus APIs via Bedrock, Vertex AI, and Foundry. Strategic value: Supports flexible deployment across personal and enterprise environments.
Who it is for
Developers/Engineers: Use Sonnet 5 for coding, automation, tool orchestration, and agent workflows. Workflow fit: write, debug code, orchestrate tools with adaptive thinking.
Content Creators and Analysts: Use skills and artifacts to generate documents, presentations, reports. Workflow fit: prompt generation, artifact editing, tool-assisted output.
Enterprises and Teams: Use Team/Enterprise plans for centralized connectors, skills provisioning, compliance, and administrative control. Workflow fit: shared workflows, access control, integrated apps.
How it works
- User signs up via web, desktop, mobile; authenticates via SSO or account.
- User initiates a conversation or selects a model (e.g., Sonnet 5). If tools enabled, Claude may invoke relevant ones automatically.
- When tools connect (web search, code execution, skills), Claude determines contextually which to call; server-side tools run on Anthropic infra, client tools run in user environment.
- Claude builds artifact outputs when content qualifies; editable via analysis tooling.
- Users manage tool access modes (Auto, Always, On-demand) to optimize context.
- Claude applies safety filters, refusing high-risk or disallowed requests gracefully.
Pros
- Extensive agentic capabilities with tool orchestration and adaptive planning.
- Wide platform availability ensures flexible access across environments.
- Safety features embedded in model behavior and oversight mechanisms.
- Artifact and skills ecosystem speeds complex content creation and automation.
Cons
- Costs can rise due to new tokenizer in Sonnet 5 inflating token count (same text → ~30% more tokens).
- Advanced features like skills or code execution may have a learning curve for new users to configure properly.
- Some tools (e.g., Mythos 5, Fable 5) are restricted or gated under regulatory or availability constraints.
Pricing Overview
Claude’s pricing follows a tiered subscription and usage-credit model. Individual plans: • Free for casual use; • Pro tier for everyday productivity; • Max tier for heavy usage with 5× or 20× capacity. Team and Enterprise plans offer per-seat pricing, admin controls, and usage-based API scalability. Model API usage (Sonnet 5, Opus 4.8, Fable 5) is charged per input/output token. Free tiers offer limited usage; Pro, Max and Enterprise tiers unlock higher limits and advanced capabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Claude Sonnet 5 and how is it different?
Sonnet 5 is the latest Sonnet-class model—more agentic, supports adaptive thinking by default, provides a 1M-token context window, and includes cybersecurity safeguards. It uses a new tokenizer (~30% more tokens) and offers performance closer to Opus 4.8 at lower cost.
How does Claude use external tools and workflows?
Claude can call server-side tools (e.g., web search, code execution) on Anthropic infrastructure, and client-side tools (e.g., text editor) in your environment. It decides contextually when to invoke them, and you can manage connector loading modes to optimize conversation space.
What are skills and artifacts in Claude?
Skills are specialized workflows (e.g., create Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) that activate when relevant. Artifacts are standalone content outputs (e.g., documents, tools) that appear in a dedicated panel and can be edited or shared.
Is Claude safe to use for enterprise workflows?
Claude is built using Constitutional AI and reflects Anthropic’s safety mission. Sonnet 5 includes real-time safeguards and refusal handling. Enterprise plans offer features like SSO, retention controls, audit logs, and HIPAA-ready options.
What platforms support Claude?
Claude is accessible through web (claude.ai), desktop application (macOS, Windows), mobile (iOS, Android), and APIs available via Claude Platform, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry.