Get Your Money's Worth from Claude (2026 Guide)
Claude is the ChatGPT alternative created by Anthropic, and honestly, it is my favorite tool out there. In this walkthrough I show you how to make the most out of the twenty dollars you pay for it: the privacy setting to check first, how to pick between Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku, thinking mode, research mode, projects, and the feature that sets Claude apart, artifacts. By the end you will know exactly what your subscription can do.
What you need
- A Claude subscription at claude.ai
- Optionally, a Google Drive, Notion, or GitHub account to try the connectors
1. Fix your privacy settings first (0:15)
Whenever you start using any application like this, head into the settings and look for Privacy or Security; the exact name changes depending on the application. Whenever you see text like this, make your choice explicitly:
Settings > Privacy (or Security) > "Help improve this model" > No
Personally, I do give my data to Claude and Anthropic because I believe what they are building is absolutely fantastic, but I do not give my data to other tools such as ChatGPT. The point is to be aware and turn this off deliberately in every app you run, whether that is Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Claude.
2. Model selector: Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku (1:36)
Claude can do everything ChatGPT can: answer questions, browse the web for current information. On the bottom right you have the model selector, and unlike ChatGPT, which only uses numbers, Claude gives its models names.
- Opus is the biggest model, the largest brain. It is the best for heavy reasoning and problems that are very difficult to solve, but it is the slowest because it is the biggest.
- Sonnet is the medium size and one of my favorites. It is extremely good at everyday tasks, great at anything business related, and very cheap.
- Haiku is the smallest, and it is actually quite good. I rarely use it personally, but I have tested it and it holds up.
You will also see all the older Anthropic models in the list. Honestly, do not touch them: the newest models are not only better, they are also cheaper.
3. Thinking mode (2:53)
The button on the left activates thinking mode. Just like us humans, these models do not rush to a solution; they talk with themselves and think it through. They explore a path, realize it is not the way to go, back up, and try something else before choosing the best path to solve your problem. If you are doing anything reasoning intensive, like creating assets or brainstorming, do not hesitate to turn this on.
4. Documents, screenshots, and connectors (3:40)
From the options on the left you can add documents, something Claude does fantastically well, and take screenshots of pages to drop straight into the conversation. Further down you have connectors: plug Claude directly into your Google Drive, your Notion, and your GitHub if you are a developer. You can also create custom connectors to any other tool out there if you need it.
5. Research mode (4:16)
Research mode behaves like deep research in ChatGPT, but it goes long. This will do research on the web for hours on end, and when I say hours, I mean hours. I have had sessions where Claude searched the web for well over two hours when I really needed a lot of information. This tool is one of the ones that can go the longest without any human intervention, which is what makes it so powerful.
6. Response styles (4:50)
You can change the style in which Claude responds: more formal, or more explanatory. If you are learning, use the learning mode and Claude will explain everything it does so you actually understand it. There are also pre-made prompts on the home screen, a fantastic way to start if you do not know what to ask.
7. Chat window and incognito mode (5:25)
The chat window works exactly like ChatGPT for opening new chats, and there is also an incognito window. Inside incognito, nothing ever gets saved: close the window and it is gone forever.
8. Projects (5:48)
Projects behave like folders. Create one, give it custom instructions and files as context, and every conversation inside it inherits that context. Right now I am learning Italian, so I created a project holding all my conversations with my coach. The custom instructions are simple:
Always reply in Italian, with Spanish translations,
so that I can understand everything.
9. Artifacts: build apps with AI (6:19)
Artifacts are what make Claude so powerful. They are simply webpages or applications built by Claude, and the use cases are wide open. Anthropic's team has published examples that even include 3D video games. What is fantastic is that you can put AI inside the artifacts themselves: the brainstorm idea generator I demo takes your company context, session type, and team goals, and when you click Generate Ideas, it is Claude running inside the artifact producing them. You can build yourself a cover letter generator, a business proposal generator, a marketing asset generator, all through Claude.
10. The one thing Claude cannot do (7:38)
Claude is probably the only large provider out there that does not do image generation. That might be a deal breaker for some people, but for me it is not a problem: I love the other use cases well enough to let go of image generation altogether.
11. Claude Code (8:01)
For the same twenty dollars, you also get access to Claude Code. Claude and Claude Code are absolutely not the same beast. Claude Code changes the game so much that I am dedicating an entire series to its impact on businesses and society, because it is probably the most powerful tool to come out of 2025.
Pitfalls and tips
- Skip the older models in the selector: newer is both better and cheaper.
- If an artifact refuses to regenerate output, change something in the inputs first. In my demo it failed to generate ideas because I had already generated them and changed nothing.
- Turn on thinking mode for reasoning heavy work; leave it off for quick everyday questions.
Where to go next
Compare Claude directly against the competition in Get Your Money's Worth from ChatGPT, or zoom out to the full adoption roadmap in Stop Using AI Like a Beginner.
