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LLMS • CURATED • UPDATED AUG 4, 2026

Claude Opus 5

Anthropic's frontier model, currently first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index

Claude Opus 5 is Anthropic's flagship model, released 24 July 2026 with a 1M-token context window and five selectable effort levels (low, medium, high, xhigh, max). Effort is the main control: output token spend runs roughly 8x from low to max, and Artificial Analysis measures a 407-Elo spread in task quality across that range, so the same model behaves like several different price and capability tiers. API pricing is $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output, with cache writes at $6.25 and cache hits at $0.50. It leads the Intelligence Index at 60.7 and tops the Coding Agent Index, scoring 89 percent on Terminal-Bench v2.1 at max effort and 53 percent on Humanity's Last Exam.

QUICK FACTS

Pricing Freemium
Platforms web, api, desktop
API Yes
Open Source No
Modalities LLMs, IDEs & Coding Tools, Multimodal Reasoning
Best For Best Frontier Model Overall
Date Added 2026-08-04

WHY WE PICKED IT

It is the current number one on the independent Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, and it got there while costing less per task than the model it displaced: $2.03 average per index task against Fable 5's $2.75. The effort dial is the reason to pick it over a fixed-tier model, because one integration covers cheap high-volume calls and expensive long-horizon agent runs.

STRENGTHS

LIMITATIONS

GETTING STARTED

Use it free in the Claude apps, or via the API at model id claude-opus-5. Start at medium effort and only move up if the task actually fails, because max effort can spend roughly 8x the output tokens of low for work that did not need it. If you send the same system prompt or codebase repeatedly, turn on prompt caching first: cache hits cost $0.50 per million against $5 uncached.

QUICK TIPS

1 Set effort per call rather than globally, cheap calls do not need max
2 Cache long system prompts and repeated context before optimising anything else
3 Benchmark cost per completed task, not cost per token, when comparing to Fable 5
4 Reach for max effort on terminal and multi-file refactor work, where the gap is largest
5 Measure on your own tasks, index rankings move within a few points

SIMILAR TOOLS

Google Antigravity 2.0 Claude Fable 5 NotebookLM GPT-5.6 Sol Cursor 2.0

USE CASE EXAMPLES

Cost-Tiered Agent Pipeline

Run one model across a pipeline where steps differ wildly in difficulty.

STEPS:
  1. Classify each step as routine or hard
  2. Send routine steps at low or medium effort
  3. Send planning and debugging steps at xhigh or max
  4. Cache the shared system prompt across every step
  5. Log tokens and cost per step
  6. Move steps down a tier until quality drops, then stop

Whole-Repository Review

Load a large codebase into the 1M-token window and review it in one pass.

STEPS:
  1. Concatenate the repository with file path headers
  2. Cache that context so follow-up questions are cheap
  3. Ask for an architecture summary first
  4. Follow with targeted questions on specific modules
  5. Request a prioritised defect list with file and line references
  6. Verify each finding against the actual file before acting

PRICING

Freemium Free tier available

Free tier includes limited features. Paid plans unlock full access, higher usage limits, and commercial usage rights.

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FEATURED IN GUIDES

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EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES

View Claude Opus 5 Alternatives (2026) →

Compare Claude Opus 5 with 5+ similar llms AI tools.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q

Is Claude Opus 5 free?

A

Claude Opus 5 offers a free tier with optional paid upgrades.

Q

Does Claude Opus 5 have an API?

A

Yes, Claude Opus 5 offers an API for programmatic integration.

Q

What is Claude Opus 5 best for?

A

Claude Opus 5 is best for Best Frontier Model Overall. Claude Opus 5 is Anthropic's flagship model, released 24 July 2026 with a 1M-token context window and five selectable effort levels (low, medium, high, xhigh, max). It is the current number one on the independent Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, and it got there while costing less per task than the model it displaced: $2.03 average per index task against Fable 5's $2.75. The effort dial is the reason to pick it over a fixed-tier model, because one integration covers cheap high-volume calls and expensive long-horizon agent runs.

Q

What platforms does Claude Opus 5 support?

A

Claude Opus 5 supports web, api, desktop.

Q

Is Claude Opus 5 open source?

A

No, Claude Opus 5 is not open source.

Q

How do I get started with Claude Opus 5?

A

Use it free in the Claude apps, or via the API at model id claude-opus-5. Start at medium effort and only move up if the task actually fails, because max effort can spend roughly 8x the output tokens of low for work that did not need it. If you send the same system prompt or codebase repeatedly, tur...

Q

How do I use Claude Opus 5?

A

Claude Opus 5 is a large language model for text generation, analysis, and conversation. Access through the web interface. Enter prompts or questions to get responses. It excels at first on the artificial analysis intelligence index at 60.7.

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