Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 5.5, the first model in a new 5.5 family. The company says the model delivers performance comparable to Claude Fable 5.1 across most work, while costing 40 percent less to run than Claude Opus 5.

Opus 5.5 is available across all Claude platforms. Alongside the release, Anthropic is increasing five-hour usage limits for Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise plans. Subscribers have also received a rate-limit reset that can be used at any point before October 22.

Claude Opus 5.5 performance improvements

Anthropic describes Opus 5.5 as a major improvement over Opus 5 in both performance and safety. The company says the model produces output more than 30 percent faster than its predecessor, which could make it more practical for users working through long tasks or repeated interactions.

In benchmark results shared by Anthropic, Opus 5.5 exceeded Fable 5.1 in agentic coding, knowledge work, computer use, visual chart recognition, and multidisciplinary reasoning. These results are based on Anthropic's own testing and describe specific areas where the new model performed ahead of the comparison model.

The company also says Opus 5.5 communicates more naturally than earlier models. It is designed to put important information near the beginning of a response, making answers easier to scan. Anthropic says the model is less likely to rely on jargon or unusual stock phrases and is better at following user-provided writing rules.

Safety safeguards and model positioning

Anthropic says Opus 5.5 is comparable to Mythos 5.1 in biology and cybersecurity. Because of that performance profile, the company is launching it with safeguards similar to those used for Fable 5.1.

The safeguards are part of Anthropic's approach to deploying more capable models in areas that could carry elevated risks. The announcement does not provide further details about the specific protections included with Opus 5.5, but it places safety alongside capability as a central part of the release.

Availability and subscription changes

Opus 5.5 is available now on all Claude platforms, giving users access to Anthropic's latest model without a separate platform rollout. The lower operating cost applies in comparison with Opus 5, while the claimed performance level is positioned against Fable 5.1.

Anthropic's accompanying usage-limit changes apply to several paid plans. Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise subscribers are receiving higher five-hour limits, as well as a one-time rate-limit reset that can be used through October 22. The changes give existing subscribers additional capacity as they begin using the new model.