Anthropic cuts AI costs with Haiku 5.5 launch
The new model targets high-volume tasks, while Anthropic also halves Sonnet 5.5 cache-read prices and adds API credits for subscribers.
Anthropic has introduced Claude Haiku 5.5, a small model designed for fast, high-volume tasks including summaries, classification, browser use and subagent work. The company says it is available across its platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
Anthropic says Haiku 5.5 costs about 75% less to run on average than Haiku 4.5. The price reduction is 90% for requests up to 100,000 tokens and 50% for larger requests, according to the company.
The launch also brings a 50% cut to Claude Sonnet 5.5 cache-read prices. Anthropic says the change lowers Sonnet’s cost by about 20% on most agentic tasks. The company says Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 remain better suited to complex agentic coding, while Haiku is aimed at more narrowly scoped work.
Anthropic is also rolling out monthly API credits for Claude Max and Team subscribers this week. Credit amounts vary by plan: Max 5x subscribers receive $100 a month, Max 20x subscribers receive $200, and Team subscribers can receive up to $500 pooled across users.
The company’s performance and cost claims draw on its own evaluations and selected customer testing. Anthropic also says Haiku 5.5 introduces an adjustable effort setting, allowing users to choose between cost and intelligence.
