Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Haiku 5.5 cover the fast end of Anthropic's line-up: Sonnet for general high-quality work, Haiku for high-volume, latency-sensitive tasks such as classification, extraction and routing.
Figures come from Anthropic's Models overview, re-read on 2026-11-02. Haiku's price is listed as a starting price.
Key differences at a glance
- Price: $2 / $10 per million input/output tokens for Sonnet 5.5 against from $0.10 / from $0.50 for Haiku 5.5.
- Latency label: Fast against Fastest.
- Same limits: 1M-token context and 128K-token synchronous output.
- Default effort: high for Sonnet, medium for Haiku; both use adaptive thinking.
- Same knowledge cutoff (June 2026) and the same text-and-image input.
Specification comparison
| Feature | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Claude Haiku 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Best combination of speed and intelligence | High-volume, latency-sensitive: classification, extraction, routing |
| Latency | Fast | Fastest |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Price per MTok (in / out) | $2 / $10 | From $0.10 / From $0.50 |
| Default effort | high | medium |
| Input / output | Text and image in; text out | Text and image in; text out |
Shaded cells mean the cited sources did not state the value. We do not fill gaps from memory.
Where each fits
Anthropic's descriptions point to different jobs. Haiku 5.5 targets classification, extraction and routing at high volume, where each request is narrow and latency matters. Sonnet 5.5 targets the broad middle: drafting, analysis, coding assistance and agents where quality matters more than per-call cost. A common architecture uses the cheaper model to triage or route requests and the stronger model for the requests that need it.
Cost at scale
Haiku 5.5's starting price is one-twentieth of Sonnet 5.5's on both input and output. For workloads of millions of short requests, that difference dominates; for a few long, complex tasks, quality and retries matter more than list price. Batch API discounts (50%) apply across the line-up, according to Anthropic.
Limits and controls
Both list a 1M-token context window and 128K tokens of output, so Haiku can handle long inputs too. Default effort differs (high for Sonnet, medium for Haiku), and effort can be set per request to trade quality for latency and cost.
How to choose
Run a small evaluation on your own data: measure accuracy, latency and total cost per successful task. If Haiku meets your quality bar, its price advantage is large; if it needs frequent retries or human correction, Sonnet may be cheaper overall.
Strengths and limitations
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Strengths
- Positioned for general quality and speed.
Limitations
- Higher price than Haiku.
Claude Haiku 5.5
Strengths
- Fastest latency and lowest listed price.
Limitations
- Page gives 'From' prices only; positioned for routing and extraction.
Verified pricing
Sonnet 5.5: $2 / $10. Haiku 5.5: from $0.10 / $0.50. Prices are per million tokens (MTok) as listed on the cited page on the verification date; they can change.
Which should you choose?
- Classification and routing at scale: Claude Haiku 5.5 — fastest and cheapest listed
- General assistant and coding: Claude Sonnet 5.5 — balanced speed and intelligence
Our verdict
Use Haiku where latency and cost dominate and the task is narrow; use Sonnet when output quality matters more. Evaluate on your own data.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Haiku 5.5 good enough for production?
Anthropic positions it for high-volume, latency-sensitive tasks such as classification, extraction and routing. Whether it meets your quality bar depends on your task; test it on real samples.
Does Haiku 5.5 have a smaller context window?
No. Anthropic lists 1M tokens for both Haiku 5.5 and Sonnet 5.5.
Why is Haiku's price listed as 'From'?
Anthropic's overview writes Haiku pricing as starting prices; see Anthropic's pricing page for details of how prices vary.
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How this was checked
Specifications compiled on 2026-11-02 from the sources below. The cited sources were re-opened and the key table values re-checked on 2026-11-02.
Anthropic Models overview re-read on 2026-11-02; all listed values matched.
Disclosure: AYORAHUB did not hands-on test these products or services. Nothing on this page is a lab measurement, benchmark or review score; analysis explains what the cited specifications mean in practice.
- All Anthropic figures come from the single Models overview page; availability on cloud platforms is not stated there.
- Haiku pricing is given as 'From'.
Sources
- Models overview — Anthropic Claude Platform Docs (manufacturer/official)