Effort levels by model › Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Opus 5.5 reasoning effort levels: intelligence, cost and speed
How much smarter Claude Opus 5.5 gets at each reasoning effort, what each level costs per task, and how fast it answers. Benchmarks from Artificial Analysis.
| Effort | Intelligence Index | Gain vs. previous | Cost per task | Output tokens/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| low Best intelligence per dollar | 35 | — | $0.98 | 79 |
| medium | 48 | +13 | $2.45 | 80 |
| high | 52 | +4 | $3.46 | 80 |
| xhigh | 57 | +5 | $6.05 | 83 |
| max | 58 | +1 | $10.04 | 96 |
API: $4 / $20 per 1M input / output tokens.
Source: Artificial Analysis LLM Leaderboard, checked 2026-11-02.