Anthropic API pricing
Anthropic API pricing: current per-token rates
Anthropic's current API rates per 1M tokens, input / output / cached-read, verified 2026-10-07. Every rate links to its official source. Claude Haiku 5.5 is priced as shown up to 100,000 input tokens; above that the whole request bills $0.50 input / $2.50 output per 1M (cache read $0.05).
Current Anthropic model prices
| Model | Input ($/1M) | Output ($/1M) | Cached in ($/1M) | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5 | $10 | $50 | $1 | 1M |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 | $50 | $0.25 | 1M |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 | $5 | $0.10 | 200K |
| Claude Haiku 5.51 | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 | 1M |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | $5 | $25 | $0.50 | 1M |
| Claude Opus 5 | $5 | $25 | $0.50 | 1M |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $4 | $20 | $0.20 | 1M |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | $3 | $15 | $0.30 | 1M |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | $2 | $10 | $0.20 | 1M |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $2 | $10 | $0.10 | 1M |
- Claude Haiku 5.5 is priced as shown up to 100,000 input tokens; above that the whole request bills $0.50 input / $2.50 output per 1M (cache read $0.05).
Subscription vs API: where the plan stops being cheaper
Break-even is the plan's monthly price divided by your blended per-token rate. At Sonnet 5 ($2/$10 per 1M), a 3:1 input:output mix blends to $4 per 1M tokens. Below your plan's break-even the subscription wins; above it, metered API does — and caching pushes the crossover higher.
| Plan | Price | Break-even vs API (Sonnet, uncached, 3:1) |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20/mo | ~5M tokens/mo ($20 ÷ $4) |
| Max 5x | $100/mo | ~25M tokens/mo ($100 ÷ $4) |
| Max 20x | ~$200/mo | ~50M tokens/mo ($200 ÷ $4) |
Recent price changes
- Claude Sonnet 5: $3/$15 → $2/$10 per 1M (effective 2026-08-10)
Common questions
Can I use the Anthropic API for free?
No — API access is metered per token at the rates above. Subscriptions (where offered) bundle usage into a flat monthly price; the API itself is pay-as-you-go.
Which model is cheapest?
The lowest input/output rate in the table above for light work; match the model to the task rather than defaulting to the cheapest — routing the hard steps up and the cheap steps down usually beats a single choice.
Prices change. Verified 2026-10-07 — re-check the source before relying on them. Corrections: hello@aiarch.dev.
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