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Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 5 AI Model at Half the Cost of Fable 5

Anthropic released Claude Opus 5, a new AI model that rivals its flagship Fable 5 on coding and knowledge work at half the price. The model is available immediately on Claude Max and Pro, and integrated into GitHub Copilot.

Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 5 AI Model at Half the Cost of Fable 5

Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 5 AI Model at Half the Cost of Fable 5

The short answer

Claude Opus 5 is Anthropic's newest AI model, announced July 24, 2026. It is positioned as a cost-effective alternative to the more powerful Claude Fable 5, delivering comparable performance on coding and knowledge work evaluations at half the price ($5 per million input tokens vs. Fable 5's pricing). While it lags behind the specialized Claude Mythos 5 on cybersecurity tasks, Opus 5 sets new state-of-the-art results on benchmarks like Frontier-Bench and GDPval-AA. The model is designed for everyday use and is the default on Claude Max. It is also integrated into GitHub Copilot for complex, agentic coding tasks.

Why it's trending

The launch of Claude Opus 5 is trending because it offers near-flagship intelligence at significantly lower cost, addressing enterprise demand for value. The simultaneous integration with GitHub Copilot also expands its reach to developers.

Anthropic on Friday announced Claude Opus 5, its latest AI model, which the company says delivers frontier-level performance on coding and knowledge work at half the price of its flagship Claude Fable 5. According to a blog post, Opus 5 is 'thoughtful and proactive' and designed for everyday use, becoming the default model on Claude Max and the strongest option on Claude Pro.

The model surpasses all other models on the Frontier-Bench v0.1 and GDPval-AA evaluations, according to Anthropic. However, on cybersecurity tasks it remains behind the specialized Claude Mythos 5, which the company previously said excels at discovering vulnerabilities. Pricing is set at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, as reported by CNBC, making it cheaper than Fable 5.

Anthropic head of product management Dianne Penn told CNBC that enterprises are 'looking for value,' a factor driving the model's development. The launch comes amid broader industry pressure to reduce AI costs, with competitors including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google offering cheaper alternatives. Anthropic also faces regulatory scrutiny; it briefly disabled access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5 in June to comply with an export control directive.

GitHub Copilot has integrated Claude Opus 5 for complex, long-running coding tasks. In early testing, the model showed strong performance on agentic workflows like autonomous code changes and regression verification, per a GitHub changelog. The model includes enhanced safeguards for high-harm cyber content. Availability is gradual for Copilot Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise users.

Timeline

  1. Claude Mythos Preview released

    Anthropic released a preview model called Claude Mythos, noted for its cybersecurity capabilities, to select users.

  2. Mythos 5 and Fable 5 launch, briefly disabled

    Anthropic released Mythos 5 and Fable 5. Fable 5 was described as exceeding all previous models. Both were briefly disabled to comply with an export control directive citing national security.

  3. Claude Opus 5 announced

    Anthropic announces Claude Opus 5, available immediately. The model offers near-Fable 5 performance at half the cost and is integrated into GitHub Copilot.

Questions people ask

How much does Claude Opus 5 cost?

Claude Opus 5 is priced at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, half the cost of the flagship Fable 5, according to CNBC.

How does Opus 5 compare to Fable 5?

Opus 5 matches or surpasses Fable 5 on coding and knowledge work benchmarks like Frontier-Bench, but lags on cybersecurity tasks. It is designed as a more cost-efficient everyday model.

Where is Claude Opus 5 available?

The model is available on Claude Max (as default) and Claude Pro. It is also integrated into GitHub Copilot for eligible users, with gradual rollout.

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Claude Opus 5: Cheaper, Outperforms Fable 5 in Coding | TakeTack