Anthropic’s Claude popularity with paying consumers is skyrocketing
Credit card data shows Claude's paid consumer user base more than doubled this year, with record growth in February.
An analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions from 28 million U.S. consumers, conducted for TechCrunch by data firm Indagari, reveals that Anthropic's Claude is gaining paid subscribers at a record pace. A company spokesperson confirmed that Claude paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year, with the most pronounced growth occurring between January and February. While the data doesn't capture enterprise clients or free-tier users, it shows a clear consumer trend, with the majority of new subscribers opting for the $20/month Pro plan.
This surge coincides with two major events. First, Anthropic ran a series of viral Super Bowl commercials that mocked OpenAI's ChatGPT for showing ads, promising Claude would never do the same. Second, and more significantly, a very public feud erupted in late January between Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense. Anthropic refused to allow its AI models to be used for lethal autonomous operations or mass surveillance, leading to a public standoff and legal battles. New user growth spiked sharply during this period of heightened media attention.
Beyond the drama, the launch of practical tools like Claude Code for developers and Claude Cowork for productivity in January, followed by the new Computer Use feature this week, has been a key driver of subscriptions. The Computer Use feature, which allows Claude to autonomously navigate and act on a user's computer, is exclusive to paying users and has sparked a new surge in sign-ups according to the company.
- Paid consumer subscriptions for Claude more than doubled in 2025, with record growth in February according to transaction data.
- Growth spiked during a public feud with the DoD over ethical AI use and after viral Super Bowl ads mocking ChatGPT.
- New product features like Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and Computer Use are major subscription drivers, attracting users to the $20/month Pro tier.
Why It Matters
This signals a major shift in the consumer AI market, where ethical positioning and practical features are becoming powerful drivers of user adoption over pure model performance.