Anthropic vs Modal Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
Free
- Chat on web, iOS, Android, and on your desktop
- Generate code and visualize data
- Write, edit, and create content
- Ability to search the web
- Memory across conversations
- Create files and execute code
- Unlock more from Claude with desktop extensions
- Connect Slack and Google Workspace services
- Integrate any context or tool through connectors with remote MCP
- Extended thinking for complex work
Pro
- More usage*
- Includes Claude Code
- Includes Claude Cowork
- Includes Claude Design
- Includes Claude Science
- Access to unlimited projects to organize chats and documents
- Access to Research
- Ability to use more Claude models
- Claude for Microsoft 365
Max
- Choose 5x or 20x more usage than Pro*
- Higher output limits for all tasks
- Early access to advanced Claude features
- Priority access at high traffic times
Starter
- $30 / month free credits
- 3 workspace seats included
- 100 containers + 10 GPU concurrency
- Scheduled and Web Functions (limited)
- Real-time metrics and logs
- Region selection
Team
- $100 / month free credits
- Unlimited seats
- 1000 containers + 50 GPU concurrency
- Unlimited Scheduled Functions
- Custom domains
- Static IP proxy
- Deployment rollbacks
Enterprise
- Volume-based discounts
- Unlimited seats
- Higher GPU concurrency
- Embedded ML engineering services
- Support via private Slack
- Audit logs, Okta SSO, and HIPAA
Anthropic vs Modal FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- Anthropic starts lower at $20/mo, compared to $250/mo for Modal.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. Anthropic uses flat-rate pricing, while Modal goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Anthropic: Anthropic is matching OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus almost dollar-for-dollar at the Pro tier — this is a deliberate 'same price, better model' play targeting GPT defectors. The $100 Max tier signals they're comfortable competing with Copilot and Gemini Advanced for enterprise-adjacent power users without discounting to win. Modal: Modal is pitching itself as the developer-friendly middle ground between raw cloud infrastructure (AWS Lambda, GCP Cloud Run) and higher-abstraction ML platforms like Replicate or Banana. GPU pricing starting at $0.000164/sec for a T4 is competitive, but the 3x multiplier for non-preemptible runs and 1.5–1.75x for region selection means production workloads can get expensive fast — they're not the cheapest option once you need reliability guarantees.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Anthropic and Modal and let you know when something moves.