Claude Opus 5.5 is 20% cheaper per token than Opus 5

Anthropic’s new Claude Opus 5.5 is cheaper than the model it replaces, and on launch day the company also handed paid subscribers a usage limit reset.

Prices and speed

Claude Opus 5.5 launched on September 22, 2026, as the first model in the Claude 5.5 family. Anthropic’s announcement puts API pricing at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens. Opus 5 cost $5 and $25, so the per-token price fell by 20%. Cache reads dropped further, to $0.20 per million tokens.

Anthropic’s headline figure is larger than the per-token cut. The company says that, at default settings, Opus 5.5 “will cost 40% less than Opus 5 on typical workloads,” a figure that covers the whole cost of a typical task rather than the price of a single token. It says output is generated more than 30% faster than on Opus 5.

On capability, Anthropic says the model “performs at the level of Claude Fable 5.1 on most work,” and that outside evaluators including METR tested it before release.

What changed for subscribers

For most individual users, the plan changes matter more than the API price. Five-hour usage limits went up on Pro, Max, Team and seat-based Enterprise plans. Subscribers also received a rate limit reset that they can save and use whenever they choose.

The reaction on r/ClaudeAI split along a familiar line. A popular thread was titled “Holy shit, it refuses to eat usage,” and the subreddit’s automated summary of the discussion says the most upvoted replies came from long-time users telling everyone to enjoy it while it lasts.

Why the limits are the story

For anyone who runs a coding agent through a subscription, the five-hour limit decides how much work gets done in a session. A price cut on the API helps developers who pay per token. A higher limit and a saved reset help users who pay a flat monthly fee.

The durable test is not launch day. It is whether the higher limits hold once demand for the new model settles. The most upvoted replies on r/ClaudeAI were already predicting a “nerf” once the launch hype fades.