Anthropic opens Claude’s memory to free users and makes switching from rival AIs easier

Anthropic has made Claude’s memory feature available on the free plan and launched a simple import tool for preferences from other chatbots, just as the app climbs to the top of Apple’s App Store charts.

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Summary

Anthropic has opened Claude’s memory feature to all users, including those on the free tier. The company also introduced an import tool designed to make it easier for people to move over from other AI chatbots.

At the same time, the Claude app has climbed to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s U.S. free app chart after a highly public clash with the Pentagon. Together, the product changes and political spotlight are helping drive rapid user growth.

In practice

Claude’s memory, previously limited to paid subscriptions, can now be used on the free plan to store preferences, settings and recurring information for future conversations. This lets the assistant “remember” a user’s writing style, interests or project details instead of starting from scratch every time.

For people switching from other services, Anthropic offers a dedicated import page where users copy a prepared prompt, paste it into their current chatbot and then paste the result into Claude’s memory settings. The flow avoids file exports or API keys, and imported memories can take up to around a day to be fully integrated because they are processed in daily synthesis cycles.

The tool works with services like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Grok and other assistants that retain user preferences. Users can also export their stored memories from Claude whenever they want.

Who benefits / who loses

The main winners are users who want to try a new AI assistant without losing years of context and carefully tuned instructions. For professionals and teams that rely on these tools at work, it sharply lowers the friction of testing alternatives or switching platforms.

Rivals such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot face a greater risk of user churn, because the biggest barrier to moving — rebuilding an assistant’s memory — becomes much smaller. At the same time, the Pentagon dispute and criticism from political leaders have turned Claude into a more visible option for people looking beyond the market leader.

Why it matters

Lowers the cost of switching AI assistants by preserving preferences and long-term context.
Puts pressure on competitors to make their own memory systems more portable and user-friendly.
Gives users more control over how and where their AI “memories” are stored and reused.
Highlights how political controversies can shape which tech tools the public decides to adopt.