Direct answer: Replit CEO and co-founder Amjad Masad told TechCrunch Disrupt on 16 October 2026 that Replit is no longer working with Anthropic, and has instead partnered with OpenAI. He cited cost, performance and partnership fit — but the reality looks messier: people familiar with the deal say the Anthropic partnership is still in place, and Replit’s own blog posts from late September referenced Anthropic models in production. TechCrunch has asked Replit for clarification.
What happened
Replit is the browser-based coding platform that lets users build and deploy software with AI. Under its partnership with Anthropic, it used Claude models to power the platform — a deal credited with helping Replit grow revenue significantly.
The bigger shift underneath
This is not just a vendor swap. Masad’s reasoning — that “ChatGPT is better now” at building vibe-coded apps from scratch — reflects a genuine market shift: OpenAI’s newer models have been winning developer mindshare back from Claude in the low-code space.
But the dispute over whether the partnership is actually over matters more. Replit’s late-September blog posts cite Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 as models running in Replit Agent’s production environment, and a product employee was promoting flagship model Opus 5.5 on X. Either Masad overstated the break, or the separation is gradual and still being unwound.
Also notable from the Disrupt stage: enterprise now drives around 15% of Replit’s revenue (up from 2% last year), with B2B overall above 50%. AI coding tools are moving fast from hobbyist territory into real business budgets.
What it means for UK small businesses
If your team uses Replit (or tools like it) to prototype products, this is a reminder of a real risk: your AI tooling stack can change under you. A model you rely on today could be swapped out tomorrow for cost or partnership reasons, changing output quality in ways you never signed off on.
Three practical takeaways:
- Don’t build on vibes alone. If an AI-generated app has paying users, keep a written record of what was built and which model built it.
- Budget for model churn. We have covered the economics of AI-assisted development in our guide to vibe coding for small business apps — the cost of AI development tools is the part most small teams underestimate.
- Multi-model is insurance. Teams that can switch between model providers — rather than depending on one lab’s output — are better protected when partnerships fall apart. The same lesson applies to AI agents your business depends on.
Honest limits / what to watch
- The facts are still contested. TechCrunch’s reporting includes direct pushback from sources who say the Anthropic partnership is still live. Treat Masad’s “no longer working with Anthropic” as a claim, not a confirmed fact, until Replit clarifies.
- Benchmarks are vendor marketing. Replit’s internal benchmark favouring OpenAI is unpublished. “Better on vibe-coded apps” is a claim about one workload, not a general model ranking.
- Watch the enterprise angle. Replit is clearly chasing enterprise contracts — expect future pricing and feature decisions to favour that audience over solo builders and small teams.
FAQs
Why did Replit end its partnership with Anthropic?
CEO Amjad Masad cited cost, performance and partnership fit. He said Replit’s internal benchmark showed OpenAI’s Sol and Astra models performed better on building vibe-coded apps from scratch.
Is the Replit–Anthropic partnership fully over?
Unclear. Insiders disputed Masad’s claim, and Replit’s own site and blog posts as recent as late September 2026 still referenced Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Opus 5.5 models in production.
What models power Replit now?
Replit announced a partnership with OpenAI in August 2026. It runs OpenAI’s Sol and Astra models for its Agent platform, alongside whatever remaining Anthropic usage persists.
How big is Replit’s enterprise business?
According to Masad, enterprise contracts grew from 2% of revenue last year to roughly 15% this year, with more than 50% of all revenue now coming from B2B.
Source: TechCrunch — “Replit is no longer working with Anthropic, CEO says” (16 Oct 2026)
