Major labs
Anthropic (Claude)
Makes Claude and Claude Code — known for reasoning quality and for being the most safety-research-forward of the major labs.
Checked September 19, 2026
No lab publishes a real roadmap
So this page keeps three things apart on purpose. What has already shipped is dated. What is coming is listed only where the lab itself has said it in public, with the source named. Everything else sits under “What to watch” and is my own read of their shipping pattern — informed guessing, not news. If a date matters to you, check the lab's own page linked above.
What they are
Anthropic makes Claude, and is the most safety-research-forward of the major labs — it publishes a great deal about model behavior, and gates its most capable model away from the public entirely.
Its line is unusual in that the model it recommends for hard coding work is not always the newest flagship, and the tier most people should use is the mid-weight Sonnet.
What they currently ship
Every model in the directory entry, with its free-tier status.
- Claude Fable 5.1— The newest public flagship (launched 1 September 2026), Anthropic’s top pick for demanding reasoning and long agentic tasks.Paid only
- Claude Opus 5— The recommended model for most complex agentic coding and enterprise work.Paid only
- Claude Sonnet 5— The default workhorse — best balance of speed and intelligence; included on Claude.ai’s free plan on a rolling usage window.Free with limits
- Claude Haiku 4.5— The fastest, cheapest tier, still near-frontier for everyday tasks; also included on the free plan alongside Sonnet 5.Free with limits
- Claude Mythos 5.1— Anthropic’s highest-capability model, restricted to vetted cybersecurity and bio-research organizations — not public.Paid only
- Claude Code— The agentic coding tool built on the models above; no free tier of its own, bundled from the Pro plan up.Paid only
What you get for free
The honest version, in one paragraph.
Usable but metered. You get the default Sonnet workhorse and the fast Haiku tier on a rolling window, which is enough for real work in short sessions but runs out if you lean on it. The flagship, the restricted model and the coding agent are all paid.
Track record
Things that actually happened, oldest first, each with a date.
- March 2023The first Claude models launch, positioned on safety and long-context work.
- 2024–2025The Opus / Sonnet / Haiku naming settles in, splitting the line by capability rather than generation alone.
- 1 September 2026Claude Fable 5.1 launches as the newest public flagship.
Confirmed and announced
Only what the lab has stated in public. Nothing here rests on a rumor.
Claude Mythos 5.1, the highest-capability model, is restricted to vetted cybersecurity and bio-research organizations and is not available to the public at any price.
Announced by the lab
The free Claude.ai plan includes Sonnet 5 and Haiku 4.5 on a rolling usage window; Claude Code has no free tier and starts at the Pro plan.
Stated on the lab's own pricing or docs page
What to watch
My own read of where this lab is heading, based on how it has shipped so far. Not announcements — treat these as questions to check, not facts.
- — Whether the vetted-access model tier grows, since it is the clearest example of a lab holding capability back from the market.
- — Further Haiku-tier releases, which is where free-plan capability actually improves.
- — Whether Claude Code ever gets a free allowance, given every rival coding agent has one.
Their ethics and safety policies
What Anthropic (Claude) has published about safety and ethics, the documents themselves, what those documents leave out — and my own read, kept separate.
Looking for which tool to actually use? See AI Models Compared