Before you start: what this course is
This course is independent. Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, did not write, sponsor or review it, and it reproduces none of Anthropic's course or documentation text.
The products covered here change roughly monthly. Names, plans and dates in this lesson are correct as of October 2026. Treat every one of them as a snapshot, not a guarantee.
What an artifact is
An artifact is a finished piece of work that Claude makes for you and that you would put in front of someone else. It is not a chat reply.
Three properties separate an artifact from an ordinary answer:
- It stands on its own. It opens in its own panel beside the conversation instead of scrolling away inside it.
- It stays editable. You can change it, return to it later and keep improving it.
- It can be shared. Other people can view it without reading your conversation.
A practical comparison: a chat reply is like advice given across a desk. An artifact is like the document left on the desk afterwards. You can pick it up, mark it up and hand it to a colleague.
Example: you ask Claude how to structure a pitch. The answer in the chat is a reply. You then ask Claude to build the pitch deck. The deck that opens beside the chat is an artifact.
The five types in the family
Anthropic currently names five artifact products. Learn the names, because the plan rules attach to them.
- Claude Design. Visual work such as landing pages, one-pagers and mock-ups.
- Claude Slides. Presentation decks.
- Claude Docs. Written documents that you can edit with other people.
- Claude Dashboards (beta). Charts built from data in a connected data platform or CRM, which update as that data changes.
- Claude Motion (beta). Short animated explainers that you can export as MP4 video.
Claude can also make smaller artifacts, such as a simple interactive tool. This course concentrates on the five named products.
What "beta" means for you
Dashboards and Motion both launched in beta on 8 October 2026. Design, Slides and Docs left beta on the same date.
Treat a beta product as follows:
- Expect features, limits and names to change at short notice.
- Do not build a critical deadline around it without a fallback.
- Recheck its availability each time you plan to rely on it.
Which plan has which type
Claude's plans are Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. As of October 2026:
| Type | Status | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Design | Generally available | Every plan, including Free |
| Claude Slides | Generally available | Every plan, including Free |
| Claude Docs | Generally available | Every plan, including Free |
| Claude Dashboards | Beta | Paid plans: Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise |
| Claude Motion | Beta | Team and Enterprise only |
A quick way to remember it is that access narrows in three steps:
- Everyone: Design, Slides, Docs.
- Anyone paying: add Dashboards.
- Team and Enterprise only: add Motion.
One extra condition applies inside an organisation. On Team and Enterprise, an administrator controls which products are switched on. Dashboards and Motion start switched off until an admin enables them. If your plan includes a product and you cannot see it, ask your admin before assuming a fault.
Worked examples:
- A founder on the Free plan can make a pitch deck (Slides) and a landing page (Design), but not a weekly dashboard.
- An analyst on Pro can build a dashboard, but cannot make a Motion explainer.
- A marketer on Team can use all five, provided the admin has turned on Dashboards and Motion.
Check a claim before you rely on it
Do this whenever a feature, plan or date matters to your work. It takes about two minutes.
- Write down the exact claim. Example: "Motion is available on my plan."
- Open Anthropic's own pages: the artifacts page on claude.com and the help centre at support.claude.com.
- Find the sentence that states the plan or status. Note whether the word "beta" appears.
- Compare it with what you wrote. If they differ, the Anthropic page wins over this course and over any blog or social post.
- Record the date you checked. Recheck before any important delivery.
Your task for this lesson
Make a short availability note. You will use it throughout the course.
- Find your plan name in your Claude account settings.
- List the five artifact types.
- Next to each one, write "available", "not on my plan" or "ask admin".
- Mark Dashboards and Motion as beta.
- Verify each line against Anthropic's current pages and add today's date.
Check your work: your note should have five rows, two marked beta, and a date. If any row disagrees with Anthropic's page, correct the note.
Key takeaways
- This course is independent of Anthropic. Anthropic's current pages are the authority on features, plans and dates.
- An artifact is standalone, editable, shareable work that opens beside the conversation.
- The five types are Design, Slides, Docs, Dashboards (beta) and Motion (beta).
- As of October 2026: Design, Slides and Docs are on every plan; Dashboards is on paid plans; Motion is on Team and Enterprise.
- On Team and Enterprise, an admin decides which products are switched on.
- These products change monthly. Verify, then date your check.