[FEATURE]

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• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

👍 Strongly supporting this — Indian user here
As a developer/user in India, the current pricing structure creates real friction that makes Claude harder to adopt compared to localized competitors.
Here's the actual cost breakdown for Indian users today:

Claude Pro: $20 USD → ~₹1,900 after forex conversion + 18% GST on top = effectively ₹2,200–₹2,300/month
No UPI support — India's most widely used payment method (GPay, PhonePe, Paytm) is completely unsupported
International card users get hit with an additional 2–3% forex fee from their bank
The INR has depreciated ~13% against USD since late 2024, making the cost creep up without any price change from Anthropic

For comparison:

ChatGPT Plus is available at ₹1,650/month in India (INR pricing, UPI supported)
Google Gemini Advanced is similarly localized

Proposed Solution

What we're asking for:

INR-denominated pricing (similar to OpenAI/Google's approach)
UPI / RuPay support as a payment method
GST-inclusive transparent pricing at checkout

India has one of the fastest-growing developer communities globally. Localized pricing isn't just goodwill — it's a growth lever. The barrier right now isn't interest in Claude, it's payment friction and effective cost.
Anthropic, this is a high-ROI change. Please prioritize it. 🙏

Alternative Solutions

Here's a focused GitHub comment requesting a student discount, grounded in the current reality:

🎓 Feature Request: Student Pricing for Indian Students
Adding to the India pricing discussion — the lack of a student discount hits Indian students especially hard.
The current situation:

Anthropic has no publicly available student pricing plans for individual users as of 2026 GamsGo
The only education path is "Claude for Education" — a university-wide institutional license that universities must sign up for, which most Indian colleges haven't done Fello AI
GitHub Student Developer Pack used to include Claude models, but as of March 12, 2026, Claude Opus and Sonnet were removed from the free student offering GamsGo

Why this matters for Indian students specifically:
For a college student in India, Claude Pro at ~₹2,200/month (after GST + forex) is simply out of reach. That's a significant chunk of a monthly stipend or pocket money. Meanwhile:

Perplexity offers student plans at ~$10/month
GitHub Copilot is free for students
Google Gemini has aggressive student pricing

What we're asking for:

Individual student verification via a .edu / university email or SheerID — similar to what other SaaS tools already do
50% student discount (~₹1,000/month effective) for verified Indian students
Expand "Claude for Education" outreach to Indian universities (IITs, NITs, central universities)
Free API credits (~$50) for student builders and researchers — even this small amount would unlock a lot of experimentation

India produces one of the largest numbers of engineering and CS graduates globally. Students who adopt Claude now become the developers, researchers, and decision-makers who champion it long-term. This is a low-cost, high-impact investment in brand loyalty.
Anthropic, students are already your biggest fans — please give them a reason to stay. 🙏

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

A final-year CS student wants to use Claude for their thesis research but cannot afford ₹2,200/month. They end up using a free-tier competitor instead.

Additional Context

If you're an Indian user facing the same issue, please drop a 👍 on this issue to help Anthropic gauge demand.