Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Claude Opus 5.5.
Verdict by category, tale of the tape, shared benchmarks only, and cost at three workloads — all from the tracked data.
Verdict by category
| Category | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Claude Opus 5.5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| League Score | 67.9 | 96.4 | Claude Opus 5.5 |
| Coding (SWE-bench %) | — | — | — |
| Reasoning (GPQA %) | — | — | — |
| Context (tokens) | 1000000 | 1000000 | Draw |
| Speed (tok/s) | — | 75.6 | — |
| Price (blended $/1M) | $0.20 | $8.00 | Claude Haiku 5.5 (cheaper) |
Tale of the tape
| Spec | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Claude Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Released | Oct 7, 2026 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| League Score | 68 | 96 |
| Context | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 | 128,000 |
| $/1M input | $0.10 | $4.00 |
| $/1M output | $0.50 | $20.00 |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Speed | — | 75.6 t/s |
Head-to-head benchmarks (shared only)
| Benchmark | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Claude Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| LiveBench overall | 74.5 | 86.5 |
Cost at three workloads
| Workload | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Claude Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Light — 1M in / 250K out | $0.23 | $9.00 |
| Standard — 10M in / 2.5M out | $2.25 | $90.00 |
| Long-context — 50M in / 5M out | $7.50 | $300.00 |
The pick
Pick Claude Haiku 5.5 if you want the lower running cost.
Pick Claude Opus 5.5 if you want the higher overall League Score.
All figures from the model database — sources and dates on each model page. Cost your own workload or compare a different pair.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better overall, Claude Haiku 5.5 or Claude Opus 5.5?
Claude Opus 5.5 leads on overall League Score, 96 to 68 — a gap of 28 points on a composite of sourced benchmarks. That is overall form, not every category: check the per-category verdicts before choosing.
Which is cheaper, Claude Haiku 5.5 or Claude Opus 5.5?
Claude Haiku 5.5 is cheaper: $0.20 vs $8.00 blended per 1M tokens (3:1 input/output mix) — about 40.0x less per token.
Which has the bigger context window, Claude Haiku 5.5 or Claude Opus 5.5?
Neither — both take 1M of context.
Are Claude Haiku 5.5 and Claude Opus 5.5 open source?
Claude Haiku 5.5 is closed weights — API access only; Claude Opus 5.5 is closed weights — API access only.