Anthropic’s Claude is winning over paid consumers, a market owned by ChatGPT
Despite ChatGPT's commanding market lead, consumers who pay for AI have been increasingly choosing Anthropic's Claude, data shows.
Consumers who pay for AI have been increasingly choosing Anthropic’s Claude, trend data from credit card transaction analysis company Indagari shows.
This is a sign that the AI lab has a wider and healthier set of customers than the niche it is generally considered to command — enterprise and startup developers using Claude Code.
Indagari analyzes billions of anonymized credit card transactions from about 28 million U.S. consumers. So while that data can’t give us absolute numbers about Anthropic’s revenue or total customers, it is a large enough sampling to spot trends.
And the trend, in Anthropic’s case, is up and to the right.
The data we analyzed covers weekly transactions from 2025 through May 10, 2026, and includes payments for items like subscriptions and API tokens. It shows Claude’s paying consumers and revenue growing, month by month, currently up about 75% since January 2026 among this segment.
Notably, the gains continued even after the company saw a growth spike from consumers in March , when it refused to allow its models to be used by the Trump administration for mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous weapons.
Another indicator of Claude’s growing popularity with consumers comes from DataCamp, an online education platform that teaches AI skills to consumers and business employees, with about 20 million users, it says.
Interest in Claude among consumers on DataCamp has exploded since the start of the year. “Claude” is now the most searched term on its site, even more than the term “AI,” DataCamp tells TechCrunch.
While ChatGPT courses are still far more popular with businesses doing corporate training, among self-directed consumers, demand for Claude courses is outpacing ChatGPT by three to one, the company says. Demand for courses on Claude has increased 18x in the last 30 days alone, it says.
Still, while Claude’s growth is impressive, ChatGPT is still far and away the most popular AI with consumers, in every way.
For instance, recent data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower shows Claude growing well this year across all platforms, but still a long way behind ChatGPT.
While ChatGPT’s growth has, the data implies, been more modest of late (largely due to its already enormous reach), it still has many more paying users, the Indagari data indicates.
Yet, there’s no question that Claude has started to gain on ChatGPT this year in terms of dollars collected from consumers, as well as general consumer awareness and interest.
As both OpenAI and Anthropic stand on the threshold of becoming public companies , we’re eager for a peek at the legs supporting their businesses.
It’s especially unclear what impact Anthropic’s latest battle with the U.S. government will have on its business. Earlier this month, the government banned Anthropic from allowing its most powerful , cybersecurity-focused models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, from being used by non-Americans, causing the AI lab to pull them from the market altogether for now.
So far, though, every glimpse at data we can find shows Anthropic continuing to grow both its consumer and business/enterprise users .
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Key takeaways
- Claude by Anthropic is gaining traction among paying consumers, suggesting diversification in the AI market.
- The increased interest in Claude-related courses indicates a shift in user preferences towards new AI tools.
- Despite Claude's growth, ChatGPT remains the market leader, highlighting the need for effective strategies to boost its adoption.
Editorial analysis
The increasing adoption of Claude by Anthropic among paying consumers indicates that the AI market is diversifying, especially in a landscape where ChatGPT has dominated. For the Brazilian tech sector, this represents an opportunity for innovation and competition, as the presence of robust alternatives can encourage the development of local solutions. Furthermore, the growth trend of Claude suggests that consumers are becoming more willing to explore different AI tools, which could stimulate a more dynamic and collaborative ecosystem.
The analysis of credit card transaction data reveals that demand for Claude is expanding, particularly among self-directed consumers, which may reflect a shift in user preferences. This shift can also be observed in Brazil, where AI education is becoming a priority, and platforms like DataCamp may be influencing the training of professionals looking to stand out in a competitive market. The increased interest in Claude-related courses suggests that there is an openness to new approaches and methodologies in AI learning.
However, it is important to note that despite Claude's growth, ChatGPT still maintains a significant lead. This indicates that for Claude to gain more ground, it will need not only to enhance its functionalities but also to develop marketing and engagement strategies that resonate with its target audience. What can be expected next is an increase in competition, which may lead to rapid innovations and improvements in the services offered, ultimately benefiting consumers and the market as a whole.
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