Anthropic is having its moment. An analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions, conducted for TechCrunch AI by consumer transaction firm Indagari, reveals that Claude is gaining paid subscribers in record numbers. Anthropic confirmed to TechCrunch AI that paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year.
The surge isn’t random. It maps directly to a string of high-profile moves that put Anthropic in the spotlight between January and February 2026.
What the Data Shows
Indagari analyzed transactions from roughly 28 million U.S. consumers and found:
- Record numbers of new paying users signed up between January and February
- Previously lapsed users returned to Claude in record numbers in February
- The majority of new subscribers chose the $20/month Pro tier (vs. $100 or $200 plans)
- Growth continued into early March, based on the latest available data
Important caveats: this doesn’t cover Claude’s enterprise business (which Anthropic considers its core revenue), free-tier users, or every U.S. consumer. Total Claude user estimates range wildly from 18 million to 30 million, and Anthropic hasn’t disclosed official numbers.
Three Things Drove the Spike
1. The Super Bowl ads hit hard. Anthropic ran commercials mocking ChatGPT’s decision to show ads, promising Claude would never do the same. The spots were funny, effective, and clearly got under Sam Altman’s skin.
2. The DoD feud became a brand-defining moment. Starting in late January, reports from the Wall Street Journal and Axios revealed a deepening conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. Anthropic refused to let the military use its AI for lethal autonomous operations or mass surveillance of American citizens. CEO Dario Amodei issued a firm public statement on February 26 as the DoD threatened to label the company a supply risk. New user growth climbed sharply during this exact window. A federal judge this week temporarily blocked the DoD’s designation, and lawsuits are now flying in both directions.
3. Developer tools converted users into paying customers. Claude Code and Claude Cowork, released in January, have been steady subscription drivers. And the Computer Use feature, launched this week, lets Claude navigate a computer independently. It works with Dispatch, which lets users assign tasks from their phones. None of these features are available on the free tier, which is the point.
Why This Matters
Anthropic has historically been seen as the “enterprise AI company” playing second fiddle to OpenAI in the consumer market. This data suggests that’s changing, though context matters.
Claude still trails ChatGPT by a significant margin. Even when OpenAI saw uninstall spikes after announcing its own DoD deal, Indagari’s data shows OpenAI is still adding paid subscribers at a rapid rate and remains the largest consumer AI platform.
What stands out here is the mechanism. Anthropic didn’t just run a marketing campaign. It took a public ethical stand on military AI use, and consumers responded with their wallets. Whether that translates into long-term retention or a temporary bump is the question worth watching.
The full analysis is available at TechCrunch AI.