Anthropic API
Claude models via a straightforward Messages API, with prompt caching and batch processing that meaningfully cut cost on repeat or high-volume calls.
What is Anthropic API?
The Anthropic API gives direct access to Claude models through a Messages API, the same interface used across Anthropic's own SDKs. It's the option for teams building products around Claude who need direct control over prompts, tool use, and streaming, rather than going through a downstream integration or another vendor's wrapper.
Key features
- Messages API supports multi-turn conversations, system prompts, tool use/function calling, and streaming responses
- Prompt caching lets you reuse large repeated context (system prompts, long documents) at reduced cost on subsequent calls
- Batch processing for high-volume, non-real-time workloads at a lower price than synchronous calls
- Vision support for passing images alongside text in the same request
- Official SDKs for TypeScript and Python, plus broad community library support
Who it's for
Makes sense once you're building a product feature around Claude specifically and need direct API access rather than going through a no-code tool or another platform's integration. If you just want to experiment, a lighter-weight wrapper or chat interface is a faster starting point.
Pricing
Usage-based, billed per token and varying by model tier, with meaningfully lower effective cost when prompt caching and batch processing apply. Check the site for current rates.