Is Claude 4.5 Worth Paying For?
In 2026, the question isn't "should I use AI," but "which AI is smart enough to do my work for me?" After 30 days of heavy testing, Claude 4.5 stands out as the thinking person's AI.
Real-World Test: Coding
We fed it a broken Python script with 500 lines of spaghetti code. Claude not only fixed the bug but refactored the entire class structure to be more readable. ChatGPT o3 fixed the bug but left the messy structure alone.
Real-World Test: Creative Writing
When asked to write a blog post introduction, Claude's output felt nuanced and engaging. It avoided the overuse of words like "delve" and "landscape" that plague other models.
The "Artifacts" Feature
This is a game-changer. You can ask Claude to "make a react component for a dashboard," and it renders it instantly in a side window. You can interact with it, tweak the code, and see changes live. For frontend devs, this alone is worth the $20/month.