Claude Partner Network: How Anthropic’s Partner Program Works and How to Get Noticed

Short answer: The Claude Partner Network is Anthropic’s partner program, launched on March 12th, 2026 with an initial $100 million commitment. Also, membership is free. Your tier depends on three things: certified people, customers live on Claude, and public customer stories. Because certification is now common, the firms that stand out are the ones bringing Anthropic new deployments and new business.

What is the Claude Partner Network?

The Claude Partner Network is the program Anthropic runs for companies that bring Claude to market. Anthropic opened applications on March 12th, 2026. Per Anthropic, any organization bringing Claude to market can join. Membership costs nothing, and you apply at claude.com/partners.

And the money matters. Anthropic committed an initial $100 million for 2026 and said it expects to invest more over time. It also said a significant share goes directly to partners. That covers training, dedicated technical support and joint market development.

So when people search “Anthropic partner program,” this is the program they mean. Still, it’s young, it’s growing fast, and the rules are still being written. As of June 3rd, 2026, more than 40,000 firms had applied.

How do the Claude Partner Network tiers work?

On June 3rd, 2026, Anthropic published the Services Track. It’s a tiered structure based on what a firm has built and shipped with Claude. Plus, Anthropic says every firm is measured against the same requirements, whether it’s a ten-person shop or a global consultancy.

Tier	Active certified people	Customers in production	Public customer stories
Registered	Minimum commitment to 10	Not required	Not required
Select	10 or more	2 or more in the last 12 months	1 or more
Preferred	100 or more	15 or more	3 or more
Global Premier	1,000 or more	100 or more, across 3+ regions	15 or more

On top of that, Global Premier also requires a joint business plan with named executive sponsors. New applicants start at Registered, and Anthropic says partnership begins at Select.

The three measures that decide your standing

Anthropic grades every firm on the same three things:

1. Certified practitioners. These are people with a current Anthropic certification who have used Claude in the past 90 days. The certification belongs to the person, not the firm.
2. Customers in production. This is the number of customers your firm has taken live on Claude.
3. Public endorsements. These are customers willing to vouch for you in a published story.

When promotions happen

First, Anthropic checks standing every quarter. Promotions are processed on January 1st and July 1st, with an extra review on October 1st, 2026. Then, downgrades only happen at the December 31st annual review. Even then, a firm gets 90 days’ notice and a chance to close the gap first.

Which Claude certifications count?

On July 23rd, 2026, Anthropic expanded to four role-based certifications:

• Claude Certified Associate, Foundations: for anyone working on Claude projects, including consultants and project leads.
• Claude Certified Developer, Foundations: for engineers building on the Claude API, tool use and agents.
• Claude Certified Architect, Foundations: for solution architects designing agent systems. This was the first certification, released at launch.
• Claude Certified Architect, Professional: for advanced design, governance and testing work at large companies.

Also, exams are proctored through Pearson, and only Claude Partner Network members can take them. Then, prep courses live in the Anthropic Partner Academy. Before you plan headcount around a tier, confirm with Anthropic which credentials count toward it.

What do Claude partners get?

Here’s what Anthropic lists for partners in its announcements:

• Training. Anthropic Academy materials, shared through the Partner Portal.
• Sales playbooks. The same playbooks Anthropic’s own go-to-market team uses.
• Co-marketing and market development. Co-marketing documents in the Partner Portal, plus joint market development from the $100 million commitment.
• Technical help. Applied AI engineers on live deals, plus architects for hard builds. Anthropic said it is growing its partner-facing team fivefold.
• A directory listing. Qualified partners appear in the Services Partner Directory, where customers looking for Claude expertise find qualified firms.
• The Claude Partner Hub. It shows your standing against the published requirements and refreshes daily. It includes an MCP connector, so you can ask Claude about your tier progress, deal status or certification counts.
• Referral credit and deal protection. These reward firms that send new business to Anthropic. Anthropic credits them separately from tier standing.

But that last item is the one I’d read twice. In my experience, partner-sourced pipeline is the number one metric large platforms track. Referral credit is where Anthropic rewards it.

Is there a Claude partner program for software companies?

Not a separate one yet. As of November 8th, 2026, the tier requirements Anthropic has published are for the Services Track, which is built for consulting and services firms. Anthropic has said specializations for specific industries and use cases are coming, with rewards that grow as a partner deploys more.

Still, the network is open to any company bringing Claude to market. A software company built on Claude can join today. It just won’t find a published ISV tier ladder to climb, at least not yet.

How do you get Anthropic’s attention as a partner?

Here’s the hard math. Certifications are the floor, not the ceiling. By June, more than 10,000 consultants had already earned one. So a team of certified people makes you eligible. But it doesn’t make you memorable.

What moves you up is the stuff that’s hard to fake:

• Customers in production. Select needs 2, and Preferred needs 15.
• Public stories. Customers have to say your name out loud.
• New business for Anthropic. That’s what referral credit and deal protection exist to reward.

And every one of those starts with pipeline. In practice, you need meetings with companies that are ready to deploy Claude. The way I’d get them is through other partners in the same ecosystem.

Why partner-sourced pipeline beats cold outreach here

Think about who already has your buyers’ trust. For example, a consulting firm has the enterprise relationships. Meanwhile, a software company built on Claude has the product those enterprises want running. Neither one gets far alone.

As a pair, though, they have a reason to call the same accounts. That’s partner-sourced pipeline: the partner brings the deal in, and then you work it together. It shows Anthropic you create demand rather than just absorbing it. If you’re new to the terms, here’s how partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline differ.

Meanwhile, the platform is watching for exactly this. Anthropic’s referral credit rewards it, and so do its tier requirements. Platform sellers pay attention when they smell money and opportunity. In my experience, that’s the only way you get their attention. The same holds in the OpenAI Partner Network, where co-sell work also shapes your tier.

What does a partner GTM motion in the Claude ecosystem look like?

A partner go-to-market (GTM) motion is one campaign, run with one partner, into accounts you both care about. Here’s how we run one:

1. Pick the partner. Choose a company in the Claude ecosystem whose customers look like yours. Usually that means pairing a services firm with a software company, so the software brings the product and the services firm brings delivery and credibility.
2. Agree on the accounts. Overlap the two account lists and choose the targets where both of you have a reason to be in the room.
3. Write one joint story. Workshop who’s involved, the buyer’s pains and the best point of entry.
4. Run the outreach. Email, LinkedIn and cold calls go out under the partner relationship. A real human SDR makes the calls, not AI. Where it fits, add a field event or an in-person meeting.
5. Hand off the meetings. Booked meetings go to whoever owns the deal, with the partner’s context attached.
6. Track every result. Count meetings held, deals and go-lives, so you have proof to show Anthropic.

Each one-off motion is quoted on its own, so there’s no fixed price. As a rough guide, about $15K tends to be the average for a one-off motion with a part-time SDR making a limited number of calls. For scale, one full-time SDR makes about 1,000 cold calls a month. So a program running three to five motions either picks which ones get the calling or adds a second SDR. And any GTM motion could cost you $0 if partners pay for it. Our Produce My Pipeline program is the version that runs every quarter.

Partners often fund these motions too. It’s worth knowing how market development funds work before you pay for one alone.

Related reading

• OEM Partnership: What It Is and How It Works
• Partner-Assisted Selling: How It Actually Works
• Partner-Led Growth: What It Is and When It Works
• Partner Playbook Template: What Actually Works
• Partner Rewards Program: What It Is and How It Works

Frequently asked questions

Is the Anthropic partner program free?

Yes. Membership in the Claude Partner Network is free. Also, Anthropic says tiered partners get lower rates on their first certification exam attempt.

How do I join the Claude Partner Network?

Apply at claude.com/partners. New applicants start at Registered, with a minimum commitment to 10 certified practitioners. Partnership begins once you reach Select.

What’s the difference between the Claude Partner Network and the Services Track?

The Claude Partner Network is the overall program. The Services Track is the tier system Anthropic published in June 2026 for services firms. It sets the Select, Preferred and Global Premier requirements.

How long does it take to reach Select?

That depends on your deployments, not just your certifications. You need 10 active certified people, 2 customers in production over the last 12 months, and 1 public story. Promotions are processed on January 1st and July 1st, so plan your first two deployments around those dates.

Does Anthropic offer market development funds?

Anthropic says part of its $100 million goes to market development and co-marketing for joint campaigns and events. But it hasn’t published how those funds get split, so ask your Anthropic partner contact what’s available for your tier.

Can I see where my firm stands?

Yes. The Claude Partner Hub shows your standing against the published requirements and refreshes daily. Plus, its MCP connector lets you ask Claude about your progress directly.

Where is the Claude partner portal login?

Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network page links existing partners to the Partner Hub at partnerhub.anthropic.com. New firms apply at claude.com/partners first.

The bottom line

The Claude Partner Network rewards proof. Certifications open the door. But deployments, public stories and new business for Anthropic decide how far you go. So don’t wait for the program to send you deals. Instead, go build pipeline with the other partners who sell to the same buyers. That’s what makes a platform notice you. And if your Claude work runs on a data platform, the Snowflake partner program is worth a look too. Our partner program directory has the full list.

Forecastable is an independent B2B partnerships agency. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. Program details are drawn from Anthropic’s public announcements and are current as of November 8th, 2026. Confirm requirements with Anthropic before planning around them.

Are you a services firm or software company building on Claude that wants deployments you can count? We’ll show you which partners and accounts to start with. Book a Program-Fit Analysis.