Claude Opus 4.5 Released: What Shipped and When to Use It (Dec 2025)
A concise record of Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.5 release: pricing, model ID, availability, capabilities, and how it compared to Sonnet 4.5 at launch.
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Claude Opus 4.5 was Anthropic's premium AI model released in December 2025, featuring $5/$25 MTok pricing, a 200K token context window, tool use, and vision capabilities. It was available across Claude apps, API, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry. Anthropic has since released the 4.6 model line with 1M context and improved quality.
TL;DR
- Claude Opus 4.5 launched in December 2025 with model ID
claude-opus-4-5-20251101, 200K context, and $5/$25 MTok pricing.- Key capabilities: difficult coding tasks, long-context analysis, tool calling (function calls), and vision (image + text inputs).
- Anthropic has since released Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) and Sonnet 4.6 (1M context, near-Opus quality at $3/$15 MTok).
- For new projects, use the 4.6 models; Opus 4.5 remains available for backward compatibility.
Update: Anthropic has since released Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context, improved quality, same pricing) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1M context, near-Opus quality at $3/$15 MTok). For current guidance, see our model comparison and Claude API profile.
OpenAI's first unified reasoning model: 70.1% SWE-bench, 400K context, and $1.25/$10 per MTok
Anthropic's frontier reasoning model: 80.9% SWE-bench record, 1M token beta context, and adaptive thinking
What Shipped
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Model ID | claude-opus-4-5-20251101 |
| Context window | 200K tokens |
| Input pricing | $5 per 1M tokens |
| Output pricing | $25 per 1M tokens |
| Tool use | Yes (function calling) |
| Vision | Yes (image + text inputs) |
| Availability | Claude apps, API, Bedrock, Vertex AI, Foundry |
Key Capabilities
- Difficult coding tasks: Multi-file refactors, architecture decisions, complex debugging
- Long-context analysis: Design docs, large repos (up to 200K tokens)
- Tool calling: Structured function calls via the Messages API
- Vision: Process images alongside text for visual reasoning tasks
- Cost optimization: Prompt caching and batch routes available for repeated prompts
Opus 4.5 vs Sonnet 4.5 (at Launch)
| Factor | Opus 4.5 | Sonnet 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Highest available at the time | Strong, more cost-efficient |
| Context | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Input cost | $5/MTok | $3/MTok |
| Output cost | $25/MTok | $15/MTok |
| Best use case | Hardest tasks where quality is critical | Day-to-day coding and chat |
How to Access (at Launch)
- Claude apps: Select Opus from the model picker in Claude Pro/Max/Team/Enterprise
- API: Use model ID
claude-opus-4-5-20251101with the Messages API - Cloud partners: Available in Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry catalogs (billing via partner rates)
What Has Changed Since
Since this December 2025 launch, Anthropic has released the 4.6 model line:
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Feb 17, 2026): 1M context, 64K max output, near-Opus quality at $3/$15 MTok
- Claude Opus 4.6: 1M context, 128K max output, improved reasoning at $5/$25 MTok
If you are starting fresh, use the 4.6 models. Opus 4.5 remains available for backward compatibility.
Sources (December 2025)
- Claude pricing: anthropic.com/pricing
- Claude API docs: docs.anthropic.com
- Partner catalogs: Bedrock, Vertex AI, and Foundry provider pages
For current model guidance, see our beginner's guide to AI models and directory.
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What is Claude Opus 4.5 Released: What Shipped and When to Use It (Dec 2025)?
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