Anthropic has begun introducing local pricing for Claude in India, its largest market outside the United States, as global AI companies intensify efforts to expand in one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets.
Local pricing is now appearing for some users on Claude’s website and mobile apps in India. Unlike OpenAI, however, Anthropic has yet to enable payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the country’s dominant instant payment system. Indian users must still pay by card or through Apple’s and Google’s app store billing platforms.
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Removing A Barrier For Indian Users
The move removes one of the main barriers for Indian subscribers, who until now had to pay in U.S. dollars and absorb currency conversion costs. According to Anthropic, India accounts for 5.8% of global Claude usage, making it the company’s second-largest market after the United States.
How Claude Is Priced In India
On Claude’s website, the annual Pro plan is priced at ₹2,000 per month (around $21), compared with $17 in the U.S. Claude Max starts at ₹11,999 per month (around $125), versus $100 in the U.S., while Team plans begin at ₹2,399 (around $25) per user each month, compared with $20 in the U.S. Indian prices include local taxes, while pricing on the mobile apps varies slightly.
A Bigger Push Into India
The pricing update forms part of Anthropic’s broader expansion in India. The company opened an office in Bengaluru in February after announcing its plans last October, appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose to lead its local operations in January, and has partnered with Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services to expand enterprise AI deployments.
The expansion has not been without challenges. In June, Anthropic suspended access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for users outside the United States, prompting some Indian developers and startup founders to explore alternatives from other AI providers. Access to Fable 5 has since been restored, while Mythos 5 remains restricted.
India has become a strategic market for AI companies because of its large developer community and expanding technology sector. The challenge now is turning strong user adoption into paid subscriptions in a market where price sensitivity remains high.
Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.
