Anthropic just shipped a free plugin inside Claude Cowork loaded with 15 ready-to-run workflows and 15 skills. Here is how to install it, what it actually does, and the first 3 use cases I would run today.
What Just Launched
On May 13, 2026, Anthropic launched Claude for Small Business: a free plugin inside Claude Cowork that connects directly to the software small businesses already use. It ships with 15 agentic workflows and 15 reusable skills spanning finance, ops, sales, marketing, HR, and customer service.
The honest read: this is the first AI release that treats a 1-to-10-person business as a real customer instead of a watered-down enterprise account. The plugin is free. The connectors are pre-wired. The workflows already know what month-end looks like.
Read the official announcement on anthropic.com.
Two buckets. Workflows are end-to-end runs (start a marketing campaign, close the month). Skills are reusable units the workflows call on (invoice chaser, margin analyzer). You install the whole plugin and get all 30 pieces in one shot.
Workflows already shipped:
Finance
Plan payroll with confidence. Close the month with fewer errors. Tax-season organizer.
Sales / Ops
Invoice chaser. Lead triager. Get a pulse on your business.
Marketing
Run your next campaign. Content strategist. Margin analyzer.
HR / Legal
Contract reviewer. Month-end prepper. Plus customer-service flows.
Connectors it speaks to out of the box: Intuit QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, Docusign, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365. If your business runs on any of these, the plugin already knows how to talk to them.
Whole thing takes about 5 minutes. You need the Claude desktop app and a Claude account (free plan works for the install; some workflows that hit Cowork at scale will push you toward Pro).
Step 01
Open Claude Cowork
In the Claude desktop app, click Cowork in the left sidebar. Cowork is the task-automation surface inside Claude, this is where plugins live.
Step 02
Browse plugins
Hit Customize, then click Browse plugins. Search for Small Business.
Step 03
Review and install
You will see every skill and connector the plugin ships with. Hit Install. The plugin is free.
Step 04
Connect your tools
QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, Docusign, Google, Microsoft 365. Connect the ones you actually use, skip the rest. Start with the tool your business runs on most.
Step 05
Take the free course
Anthropic also shipped a free on-demand course called AI Fluency for Small Business built with PayPal. It teaches the responsible use stuff most small business owners do not have time to figure out on their own.
You do not need to use all 15 workflows. Start with the ones that buy back the most time per dollar.
Try 1
Invoice chaser
Hook up QuickBooks and PayPal. Ask Claude: “Pull every open invoice past 14 days. Draft a polite follow-up for each one, attached to the right contact in HubSpot. Show me before you send.” Most small businesses leave 5 figures on the table in unsent reminders.
Try 2
Month-end prepper
Hook up QuickBooks. Ask Claude: “Run the month-end prepper. Find any uncategorized transactions, flag duplicates, surface unusual spend, and draft my P&L summary.” What used to be a Saturday turns into 30 minutes of review.
Try 3
Run your next campaign
Hook up Canva, HubSpot, and Google Workspace. Ask Claude: “Plan a 3-week campaign for [product]. Draft the offer, the email sequence, 5 social posts, and the Canva templates I should adapt. Build it in HubSpot ready for me to approve.”
Heads Up
Claude always asks before it sends anything that matters. It can draft an email, but you hit send. It can prep an invoice, but you approve it. Your hand stays on the wheel.
Three honest caveats so you go in clear-eyed.
01
It is not a replacement for your accountant
Month-end prep, invoice chase, contract first-pass, all great. Final-mile finance work still belongs with a human you trust.
02
Some workflows need clean data
If your HubSpot is a mess or your QuickBooks has 4 years of uncategorized transactions, the first thing Claude is going to do is surface that mess. Budget a week for cleanup before you scale the workflows.
03
Heavy use will push you to Pro
The plugin install is free. Running 15 workflows daily on a free plan will rate-limit you. Most small business owners landing here will end up on Claude Pro at $20/month, which is still cheap for what it replaces.
The Real Win
The unfair advantage is not the workflows. It is that a solo founder can now run with the operating leverage of a 5-person team without hiring. Install it before your competitors do.
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