What's the difference between Claude chat, Claude Code, and Cowork?

Claude Code used to be terminal-based but now runs directly in the application, so you don't need to go to a terminal anymore. Cowork does what Claude Code can do but with a much better UI. However, even the regular Claude chat interface can now do most of what Cowork and Code can do, so usage of Cowork is decreasing in favor of chat for many tasks. Cowork is still useful for recurring, more resource-intensive tasks—for example, generating a monthly P&L using known account mappings and sending it off to relevant people, and you can schedule tasks within Cowork. The tradeoff is that Cowork/Code requires a lot more tokens, which is why chat is preferred for lighter, everyday work.