Anthropic’s Claude has been steadily winning over paying consumers in 2026, with credit card transaction data showing a 75% increase in consumer revenue since January, according to analysis from Indagari, a firm that tracks billions of anonymized transactions from roughly 28 million U.S. consumers. The trend signals that the AI lab’s appeal is broadening beyond its traditional stronghold of enterprise and startup developers using Claude Code.
While the Indagari data cannot provide absolute revenue or customer totals for Anthropic, the sample size is large enough to identify clear trends. The data, covering weekly transactions from January 2025 through May 10, 2026, includes payments for subscriptions and API tokens. Notably, Claude’s consumer gains continued even after a spike in March, when the company refused to allow its models to be used by the Trump administration for mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous weapons.
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Consumer interest surges on education platforms
Another indicator of Claude’s growing consumer traction comes from DataCamp, an online education platform with about 20 million users that teaches AI skills. DataCamp reports that “Claude” is now the most searched term on its site, surpassing even “AI” itself. Among self-directed consumers, demand for Claude courses is outpacing ChatGPT courses by three to one, the company said. Demand for courses on Claude increased 18x in the last 30 days alone.
ChatGPT courses, however, remain far more popular with businesses doing corporate training, DataCamp noted.
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ChatGPT still dominates overall market
Despite Claude’s growth, ChatGPT remains the dominant consumer AI product by a wide margin. Data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower shows Claude growing well across all platforms in 2026, but still far behind ChatGPT in total usage. Indagari’s data similarly indicates that ChatGPT has many more paying users overall, though its growth has been more modest recently due to its already enormous reach.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are approaching potential public offerings, making the composition of their revenue streams a subject of increasing interest to investors. It remains unclear what impact Anthropic’s ongoing conflict 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, leading the lab to pull them from the market entirely for now.
Anthropic declined to comment for this story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data shows Claude is gaining paying consumers?
Credit card transaction analysis from Indagari, which tracks billions of anonymized transactions from 28 million U.S. consumers, shows Claude’s paying consumer revenue grew about 75% from January 2026 through May 2026.
How does Claude’s consumer growth compare to ChatGPT?
Claude is growing faster in percentage terms among paying consumers, but ChatGPT still has far more total paying users and overall revenue. ChatGPT’s growth is more modest due to its already massive reach.
What other evidence supports Claude’s growing consumer interest?
DataCamp, an online education platform, reports that ‘Claude’ is now its most searched term, surpassing even ‘AI’. Demand for Claude courses among self-directed consumers outpaced ChatGPT by three to one.
Has Anthropic’s conflict with the US government affected its business?
Despite the government banning Anthropic’s most powerful cybersecurity models from use by non-Americans, causing their withdrawal, the available data shows Anthropic continuing to grow both consumer and enterprise users.
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