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opus 5 vs opus 5.5

See how Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 handles three logic problems: matching answers, 43%–69% cheaper calls, and about 11% faster output from the same API prompts.

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What the Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 Comparison Reveals

Anthropic says Opus 5.5 cuts cost and boosts speed over Opus 5. We stress-test those promises on real reasoning workloads to see what actually changes.

  • What Anthropic Promises on Price and Pace
    The headline numbers are a 40% smaller bill, over 30% quicker responses, and reasoning on par with Claude Fable 5.1 instead of lagging Opus 5.
  • How API Rates Shift
    Opus 5.5 charges $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens, versus $5 and $25 before — a 20% discount before any token savings.
  • How We Tested Reasoning
    We sent the same prompts to both models via the Anthropic API, using adaptive thinking at default effort and one run per problem per model.

Inside the Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 Test Run

We chose three difficult reasoning problems, ran each model once per problem, and recorded tokens, elapsed time, and list-price cost for every call.

Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5: What the Numbers Show

Spend, token output, generation speed, and failure patterns recorded across the Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 reasoning trials.

Logic Grid Correctness

Both models filled all 28 grid cells correctly; Opus 5.5 added a caveat that it had not fully proven the solution was unique.

Output Token Savings

On the stone game Opus 5.5 produced 62% fewer output tokens, and on the logic grid it cost 43% less — mostly by writing less.

Generation Speed

Opus 5.5 averaged 103.4 tokens per second versus 93.1 for Opus 5 — about 11% quicker overall, with a 19% edge on its best single problem.

Spend by Problem

The logic grid cost $0.16 with Opus 5.5 versus $0.27 with Opus 5; the stone game cost $0.58 versus $1.88. Total test spend was $10.50.

Where Hard Problems Broke

The ordering puzzle stopped both models — each could spend about 20 minutes thinking and return no answer, and Opus 5.5 ended with a refusal stop reason.

Use Code Execution for Counting

If a task is fundamentally counting, as the ordering test was, give the model a code execution tool instead of relying on pure reasoning to reach the number.

FAQ

Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5: Questions Answered

Answers to frequent questions on Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 pricing, response speed, and reasoning outcomes.

1

Does Opus 5.5 cost less than Opus 5?

Yes — it was 43% cheaper on the logic grid and 69% cheaper on the stone game, chiefly because it generated fewer output tokens.

2

Is Opus 5.5 quicker than Opus 5?

It is about 11% quicker overall and led by 19% on its best single problem — below the 30% gain Anthropic advertises.

3

Does Opus 5.5 reason more accurately?

No. Across the three problems the models were indistinguishable: both solved the logic grid and stone game and both failed the constrained ordering puzzle.

4

Why did Opus 5.5 refuse a benign prompt?

During the ordering test it ended with a refusal stop reason and no text — most likely a safety filter wrongly flagging a harmless request.

5

Should you move to Opus 5.5?

If you already use Opus 5, yes: hard-reasoning answers stay the same while cost and wait time fall — but set a hard output cap first.

6

How can you control spend on hard problems?

Cap output tokens and monitor spend, because either model may think for about 20 minutes, return nothing, and still bill for tokens.

Run Your Own Opus 5 vs Opus 5.5 Check

Take the published prompts, test both models on your own stack, and switch to Opus 5.5 with an output cap to capture the savings and speed.