Anthropic has released Opus 5, a new AI model that offers near-frontier intelligence at half the cost of its top-tier model, Fable 5. The model is priced at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens and is available immediately on all Anthropic platforms. It becomes the default model on the premium consumer tier Claude Max and the strongest model on Claude Pro.
Opus 5 is designed for daily use, including coding, agent tasks, and enterprise workflows. It outperforms its predecessor on key benchmarks while using fewer tokens, making it more cost-effective. However, Anthropic acknowledges that Opus 5 is not its smartest model—that distinction remains with Fable 5, which is better suited for long, autonomous projects. Opus 5 excels at bounded, specific tasks.
The model includes an adjustable effort setting for balancing intelligence and speed. It also features safety classifiers that trigger less often than those on Fable 5, and risky requests fall back to the older Opus 4.8. Early users report similar performance with reduced token usage.
The launch signals a shift in the AI industry from raw capability to cost efficiency, as enterprises focus on economical daily use. Opus 5 aims to make advanced AI more accessible and affordable for routine complex work.