Claude 5.5: competition is also playing out on efficiency
Opus and Sonnet evolve together: difficult tasks for the first, more structured and fast work for the second. The cost to finish a task becomes as important as the scores displayed.
Available
Facts, analysis and limits
Verified facts
- Opus 5.5 is announced on September 22nd and Sonnet 5.5 on 28. Both are available on the Claude platform and the main clouds mentioned by Anthropic.
- API prices per million tokens: Opus 5.5 at $4 input / $20 output; Sonnet 5.5 at $2 / $10. Claude subscriptions have their own limits.
- Anthropic announces more than 30% additional generation speed for both; the announced savings per task are 40% for Opus and up to 30% for Sonnet, on its own tests.
- Five-hour limits increase on plans including Pro and Max with Opus 5.5; a limit reset can be saved and used later. Haiku 5.5 is announced for later, not available in these announcements.
What changes
More efficient models can make the same use allocation more useful, without requiring an increase in budget.
Practical implication
Check the new Max limits and compare on your usual usages.
Availability
Available; increased limits announced for several subscriptions including Max. No status of your personal account has been inspected.
Limits and uncertainty
Efficiency figures are the vendor's. Le Signal AI is a practitioner's account, not proof that Opus wins on every task.
Sonnet update September 28; reminder of Opus launch on 22. Both dates are distinct.