Replit, the AI coding platform favored by startup founders and developers, has ceased its collaboration with Anthropic, as announced by the company’s CEO and co-founder Amjad Masad during a presentation at TechCrunch Disrupt on Thursday. Masad cited several factors for this decision, including financial considerations. Although Replit formed a partnership with OpenAI in August, there had been no prior indication of a discontinuation of its relationship with Anthropic.
“I believe ChatGPT has improved significantly,” Masad remarked, noting that the company employs an internal benchmark to evaluate metrics such as performance. “We also publish a public benchmark, and consistently, Sol and Astra outperform in developing vibe-coded applications from the ground up. This decision was influenced by cost, partnership dynamics, and performance. For all these reasons, we concluded that they were a more suitable partner at this time.”
However, it appears that Anthropic has not been entirely excluded from Replit’s operations, which offers a cloud-based software development platform enabling users to create and deploy applications directly from their browsers. Following the Disrupt event, Masad clarified that customers can still utilize Anthropic models on the platform, but OpenAI’s ChatGPT has now been designated as the default option. This transition could lead to a significant decrease in Replit’s expenditures with Anthropic, as most users tend to stick with the default model rather than opting for alternatives.
Before establishing a partnership with OpenAI, Replit depended on Anthropic’s Claude models to operate its platform. This collaboration reportedly contributed to a substantial increase in the company’s revenue, with Masad mentioning on stage that Replit had been, until recently, one of Anthropic’s top five customers. “Replit remains model agnostic,” Masad stated to hinews over the weekend. “Our users can select Anthropic’s Claude or other supported models…OpenAI is now our preferred partner for powering Replit Agent, based on performance, economics, and the strength of our partnership.”
However, Masad’s assertions during the presentation were contested by sources familiar with the partnership between Anthropic and Replit. One individual, who requested anonymity, indicated that the partnership remains intact. Evidence on the company’s website, along with recent blog posts and social media updates, suggests that Replit was actively promoting Anthropic products just weeks ago. For example, a blog entry from late September references Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Claude Fable 5.1 as models utilized in Replit Agent’s production environment. Concurrently, a member of Replit’s product team posted on X about leveraging Anthropic’s flagship model Opus 5.5 and showcasing its features.
Masad also shared insights regarding the company’s growth during his Disrupt presentation, highlighting that enterprise revenue is beginning to constitute a larger portion of overall income. “We’re not disclosing ARR figures at this moment, but in terms of growth, enterprise accounted for about 2% of revenue last year,” Masad explained. “This year, I would estimate that approximately 15% of our revenue comes from enterprise contracts, with more than 50% of our revenue derived from B2B transactions.” Backstage, Masad informed hinews that he anticipates that by 2027, over half of Replit’s revenue will originate from enterprise and government clients.
Additionally, Masad emphasized the importance of robust AI safety measures. “Just as humans require a conducive environment to perform well—such as a pleasant office, good food, air conditioning, and computers—agents also need a suitable habitat to thrive and produce quality work,” he stated. “This habitat must include effective orchestration, reliable error recovery, strong safety and security protocols, sandboxing, efficient networking, and proper identity and authorization. Once all these elements are in place, AI can be deployed safely.”
This article was initially published on October 16 at 2:22 PM PT and has been updated to provide additional context regarding Replit’s partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI. The title has also been revised.
