Analysis of Claude Opus 5.5 Intelligence, Performance, and Pricing (Max)

Executive Summary: The Claude Opus 5.5 (configured for Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, and Default Fallback) stands as a titan of cognitive capability. While it leads the industry in raw intelligence, it carries a premium price tag compared to its peers in the same cost bracket.

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📊 Core Performance Metrics

The following table summarizes the model's standing across the Artificial Analysis benchmarks:

💰 Financial Breakdown

The cost of operating this model is relatively high. To put this into perspective:

• Input Cost: $4.00 per 1M tokens (Median: $2.00)
• Output Cost: $20.00 per 1M tokens (Median: $10.00)
• Efficiency: A 95% Cache Discount is available.
• Total Evaluation Spend: The cost to run the Intelligence Index for this model totaled $8,708.20.

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🛠 Technical Specifications

The model is designed for high-complexity tasks requiring deep reasoning.

• Reasoning Capabilities: Enabled (This analysis specifically covers the reasoning-enhanced version).
• Modality Support:
  • Text Input
  • Image Input
  • Text Output
• Context Window: 1M tokens.
  • Calculation: $\text{1,000,000 tokens} \approx 1,500 \text{ A4 pages (12pt Arial)}$

Model Classification Logic

Artificial Analysis categorizes models to ensure fair comparisons. The logic follows this structure:

if model.type == "Reasoning":
    compare_with = ["Reasoning", "Non-Reasoning"]
elif model.type == "OpenWeights":
    size_class = categorize_size(params) # Tiny, Small, Medium, Large
    compare_with = [m for m in models if m.size == size_class]
elif model.type == "Proprietary":
    price_bracket = calculate_blended_ratio(input_price, output_price)
    compare_with = [m for m in models if m.price == price_bracket]

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🧠 The Intelligence Index (v4.3.2)

Claude Opus 5.5 achieved a score of 58, significantly outperforming the median score of 25. This index is a composite of ten distinct evaluations.

Detailed Benchmark Breakdown

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🌐 Capability & Industry Indexes

Beyond general intelligence, the model is evaluated on specialized industry performance:

• Industry Focus: Finance, Accounting, Strategy, Ops, Legal, Engineering, and Economics.
• Finance/Accounting Index: This specific index aggregates data from AA-Omniscience, GDPval-AA v2.1, AA-Briefcase v1.1, Humanity's Last Exam, AutomationBench-AA, AA-LCR v1.1, and GDP.pdf.

Final Notes on Model Availability

• Developer: Anthropic
• Release Date: September 2026
• License: Proprietary
• Specialized Agents: Includes support for Harvey LAB-AA for legal agentic workflows.