text model comparison
Claude Opus 5 vs GPT-5.5
Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.5 are both current text models, from Anthropic and OpenAI. Both cost $5 per 1M input tokens. On Arena Text, Claude Opus 5 scores 1490 Elo and GPT-5.5 1482 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026). GPT-5.5 has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
Data verified October 12, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-12
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Opus 5 | GPT-5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $5 | $5 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $25 (better) | $30 |
| Cost of 10M input and 2M output tokens | $100 (better) | $110 |
| Arena Text | 1490 Elo (#6 of 39) (better) | 1482 Elo (#13 of 39) |
| GPQA Diamond | 93.9% (#10 of 37) (better) | 90.7% (#21 of 37) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 85.6% (#10 of 37) (better) | 85.3% (#11 of 37) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 59.9% (#15 of 34) | 63% (#13 of 34) (better) |
| LiveBench Overall | Not measured | 79.91 points (#1 of 5) |
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Release date | July 24, 2026 | April 23, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,050,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Input | text, image | text, image |
| Output | text | text |
Scores:Arena · 2026-10-12Epoch AI · 2026-10-12LiveBench · 2026-06-25
When to choose each
Claude Opus 5
Best for
- Complex agentic coding and enterprise work as the general-purpose default before reaching for Fable 5.1
- Latency-sensitive work that can justify Fast mode pricing
Watch out for
- Fast mode pricing applies to the whole request, including above 200K input tokens, so it doubles the effective rate rather than adding a surcharge
- Cache reads are $0.50 per million (the standard 0.1x), five times Fable 5.1’s $0.25, even though Opus 5 is the cheaper model on base tokens. A cache-heavy agent loop can invert the expected cost ordering between the two.
GPT-5.5
Best for
- High-capability API evaluations with long context
Watch out for
- Prompts above the provider long-context threshold use higher token rates; validate the selected reasoning effort against production cost
Claude Opus 5 vs GPT-5.5 FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.5?
Both cost $5 per 1M input tokens. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Claude Opus 5 costs $100 and GPT-5.5 $110 at standard rates.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.5?
Claude Opus 5 leads on Arena Text, 1490 Elo to 1482 Elo; Claude Opus 5 leads on GPQA Diamond, 93.9% to 90.7%; Claude Opus 5 leads on FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2), 85.6% to 85.3%. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.5?
GPT-5.5 has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
Related comparisons
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.5?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty