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ZDNET's key takeaways
Claude free users can access features previously for subscribers.
Use custom skills, longer conversations, and external connectors.
The new perks mean you may no longer need a subscription.
I have a Pro subscription to Anthropic's Claude AI that's due to expire at the end of the month. Normally, I would have renewed the plan as I use Claude both personally and professionally. But just in the nick of time, Anthropic has added four cool new features to the free plan. Collectively, they've convinced me to put the kibosh on my subscription, at least for now, and save myself the $20 a month.
In a new LinkedIn post, Anthropic touted the new perks and described how they work.
File creation
First up is file creation. Here, you can ask Claude to create different types of files based on a new request or an existing conversation. The AI is capable of generating Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and more. You can also upload a file and tell Claude to modify it or convert it into a different format.
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