If your business pays for an AI assistant, it is worth checking what you are actually paying for. Tech site XDA reported this week that five features Anthropic once kept behind Claude’s paid plans have quietly moved to the free tier over the past few months.
According to the article, free accounts can now:
- Create up to five Projects – workspaces that keep related chats and files together. The enhanced project knowledge search stays on the paid plans.
- Use Memory, which reached the free plan in March 2026, so the assistant can carry context between conversations instead of starting cold each time.
- Create files – since February 2026 the free tier can generate and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks and PDFs.
- Use Connectors to link the assistant to web services, although free accounts are limited to one custom connector.
- Run Skills, which are saved sets of instructions for tasks you repeat, also opened up in February 2026.
Why does this matter for a small business? Because subscriptions have a habit of renewing on autopilot. It is common to buy a seat for everyone when only one or two people genuinely need the paid limits. Before your next renewal, it is worth asking who is actually hitting the paid features and who would be perfectly well served by the free plan. The same question applies to every other tool on your monthly bill.
There is a second point worth pausing on. Memory, file creation and connectors all work by taking your business information into the tool and keeping it there. A free plan is still a business decision: quotes, client lists, staff details and financials should not go into any AI assistant without someone deciding that is acceptable and telling your team where the line sits. Free removes the invoice, not the responsibility.
A short annual review of what you pay for, who uses it, and what data it holds usually pays for itself.
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