Claude Pro setup — from zero to working account in 12 minutes
End-to-end walkthrough: signup, plan selection, payment, what Pro unlocks, what to verify, what to skip. With SG-specific notes.
Both the Cowork and Claude Code sessions require Claude Pro. This guide is the longest single setup step in our setup kit, because the choices you make in the first 12 minutes shape what Claude can do for you for years. Take it slow; do each step deliberately. If anything is unclear at the end, message Haojun on WhatsApp before the session — we'd rather sort it up front than burn 30 minutes of room time.
Before you start
You'll need three things in the next 15 minutes: a work email address you want to use for AI tools, a Singapore-issued credit or debit card (most work; see troubleshooting if yours doesn't), and a quiet 12-minute window. Don't do this between meetings — the signup involves email verification, and rushed verification is where 80% of setup pain comes from.
Attending a session?
Sign up for Claude Pro yourself before the session. Anthropic bills it monthly and you can cancel any time, so there is no need to commit past the month you use it.
Step-by-step
1.Open claude.ai and start the sign-up flow
Go to https://claude.ai. Click the prominent Sign up button in the top-right corner — not Sign in (which is for existing users).
You have two sign-up methods: Continue with Google (faster, recommended if you have a work Google account) or sign up with email and password. Most people use Continue with Google because the connectors you'll set up later authenticate against Google accounts anyway.
Work email or personal?
Use the email that owns the Gmail/Calendar/Drive you want Claude to read in the Cowork sessions. If your work account is locked-down (no third-party OAuth), use your personal account for the session and connect work later if your employer's policy allows.
The claude.ai landing page in mid-2026 has a cream/orange palette, a centered headline ('Claude is your AI work coworker'), and a prominent black 'Sign up' button to the right of 'Sign in'.
2.Verify your email
Anthropic sends a 6-digit verification code to your email. The code arrives in under 30 seconds in 95% of cases. Check spam if you don't see it within 90 seconds.
Enter the code on the verification screen. You're now signed in to Claude.ai on the free tier — but the next step is upgrading to Pro.
Don't try to use the free tier
Free tier has hard daily limits and no access to connectors. You'll hit the wall within an hour of attempting the session material. Pro is required, not optional.
3.Upgrade to Claude Pro
Click your initials (top-right of any chat) → Settings → Plan. You'll see three tiers: Free, Pro (~US$20/month), Max (~US$100/month).
Click Subscribe to Pro. Enter your card details on the Stripe-powered payment screen. Singapore cards work in 95%+ of cases; if yours fails, see the troubleshooting section below.
Don't subscribe to Max yet
Max (US$100/month) is genuinely useful for power users but you can decide that after the Cowork sessions. Pro is enough for everyone walking in. You can upgrade later without losing anything.
The Settings → Plan screen shows three cards side by side. Pro is the middle card with 'Most popular' label. It lists 5x messages, projects, connectors, and 30MB file uploads.
4.Verify Pro is active
Go back to https://claude.ai and start a new chat. Look at the model selector (top-left of the composer). It should show Claude Sonnet 4.6 (or whatever the current Pro default is). On free, you'd see Haiku.
If the selector still shows the free tier model, refresh the page. Subscription activation is usually instant but can take up to 5 minutes if Stripe is processing.
5.Set up your account name and avatar
Settings → Account. Enter your full name (this appears on shared conversations) and optionally an avatar. Skip the bio for now.
Set your language to English (Singapore) if you want SG-localised dates and number formatting in Claude's outputs.
6.Create your first Project
Projects are folder-like containers for related conversations with shared context. Even if you don't use them today, having one set up makes the Cowork workflow smoother.
Sidebar → Projects → New project. Name it 'Personal' or 'Work'. Add a one-paragraph description of who you are (this becomes system context for every chat in the project). You'll expand this with the you.md pattern in the Cowork sessions.
Don't over-structure projects yet
Start with one or two. After the Cowork sessions you'll know which contexts are genuinely recurring and can split from there. Most people end up with 3-6 projects total.
7.Bookmark these three URLs
https://claude.ai — main interface, where you'll spend 95% of your time.
https://claude.ai/settings/account — settings, plan, connectors.
https://www.anthropic.com/learn/build-with-claude — Anthropic's official free Academy. Worth knowing about; not required for the sessions.
What Pro actually unlocks
Knowing what you've paid for makes the difference between using 20% of Pro and using 80%. Here's what changes vs the free tier.
- •5× the daily message limit of free.
- •Projects — persistent context across conversations.
- •Connectors — Gmail, Calendar, Drive, GitHub, and a growing list (the core of the Cowork sessions).
- •File uploads up to 30 MB per file (PDFs, spreadsheets, images, code).
- •Higher priority during peak hours.
- •Access to the latest Sonnet model by default.
Singapore-specific notes
Anthropic bills in USD. Your card is charged the equivalent of US$20 each month, plus any FX fees your bank applies (usually 1-2%). Most SG-issued credit cards handle this without issue; debit cards work too but can hit transaction limits more often.
There's no SkillsFuture credit applicable to Claude subscriptions (as of mid-2026). It's either a personal expense or a company-reimbursed one.
For company reimbursement: Anthropic generates a proper invoice from Settings → Billing → View invoices. Most SG finance teams accept these. Note that the invoice is from Anthropic PBC (a US Delaware corporation), not a Singapore entity.
Troubleshooting
My card was declined.
Most often a per-merchant block from your bank for international USD charges. Call your bank and ask them to enable international online payments for your card. Alternative: use a different card, or use a virtual card from YouTrip or Revolut SG (both work).
I signed up with the wrong email.
You can't merge accounts. If you used the wrong email for less than 24 hours and haven't subscribed, just create a new account with the right email. If you've already paid, contact support@anthropic.com — they'll help migrate.
Pro shows as active but I still hit message limits quickly.
Long conversations consume more tokens than short ones. If you're working on multi-hour research, end and restart the conversation periodically — context accumulates and counts against your limit. Or upgrade to Max for the smoother experience.
My employer's Workspace policy blocks third-party OAuth.
You can still use Claude for general work, but the Gmail/Calendar/Drive connectors won't authenticate against your work account. Use a personal Google account for the session. Talk to IT after the session to discuss policy updates.
I don't see the Projects feature.
Projects rolled out to all Pro users by mid-2025. If you don't see it, your account is on Free tier (verify under Settings → Plan) or you have an old session — sign out and back in.
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