// alternatives · October 2026
Claude Opus 5.5 alternatives
Cheaper models that come close, budget substitutes, and the cheapest step up — chosen on published LiveBench scores and live list price, never on our opinion. Every model here supports tool calling and image input, as Claude Opus 5.5 does.
The closest cheaper alternative to Claude Opus 5.5 is GPT-6.1 Sol — 1.1 points lower overall, 50% cheaper on LiveBench and list price.
Claude Opus 5.5: 85.1 overall on LiveBench, $8.00 per 1M blended tokens, about $2,880/mo for a RAG assistant.
Cheaper, close in quality
Lower list price and within 5 points of Claude Opus 5.5 on LiveBench overall — the switches least likely to be noticed by users. Strongest first.
| Model | Overall | vs Claude Opus 5.5 | Blended / 1M | RAG assistant | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Solopenai 1.1 points lower overall, 50% cheaper. Head to head → | 84.1 | −1.1 | $4.00−50% | $1,440/mo | 1.1M |
Budget substitutes
Within 15 points of Claude Opus 5.5, cheapest first — and only models that are the best score at their price, so nothing here is beaten by a cheaper pick. Worth testing for high-volume traffic where the last few points matter less than the bill.
| Model | Overall | vs Claude Opus 5.5 | Blended / 1M | RAG assistant | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017deepseek 11.1 points lower overall, 93% cheaper. Head to head → | 74.0 | −11.1 | $0.525−93% | $194.40/mo | 1.0M |
| GPT-6.1 Terraopenai 7.4 points lower overall, 75% cheaper. Head to head → | 77.8 | −7.4 | $2.00−75% | $720.00/mo | 1.1M |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5anthropic 5.1 points lower overall, 50% cheaper. Head to head → | 80.0 | −5.1 | $4.00−50% | $1,440/mo | 1M |
Match it on one task for less
For each LiveBench category, the cheapest model that scores at least as well as Claude Opus 5.5 there. Useful when your workload is mostly one kind of task.
| Category | Cheapest match | Score | Blended / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasoning | Gemini 4 Argon | 95.1 vs 92.2 | $4.00−50% |
| Browser | GPT-6.1 Terra | 93.1 vs 88.4 | $2.00−75% |
| Data analysis | GPT-6.1 Terra | 82.3 vs 80.3 | $2.00−75% |
| Research | SpaceXAI: Grok 4.7 | 86.4 vs 85.0 | $3.00−63% |
Claude Opus 5.5 alternatives FAQ
What is the best alternative to Claude Opus 5.5?
GPT-6.1 Sol. 1.1 points lower overall, 50% cheaper. Every suggestion supports tool calling and image input, like Claude Opus 5.5.
What is the cheapest alternative to Claude Opus 5.5?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 at $0.525 per 1M blended tokens, scoring 74.0 overall against Claude Opus 5.5's 85.1. On a RAG assistant at 100K requests a month that is $194.40 instead of $2,880.
Is there a cheaper model that matches Claude Opus 5.5 on specific tasks?
Yes, in 4 of the seven LiveBench categories. For example, reasoning: Gemini 4 Argon (95.1 vs 92.2); browser: GPT-6.1 Terra (93.1 vs 88.4); data analysis: GPT-6.1 Terra (82.3 vs 80.3).
How alternatives are chosen
- Scores — LiveBench release 2026-10-25. Only models with a published run are suggested on quality; a missing model means “not evaluated”, not “worse”.
- Prices — live list prices from OpenRouter, blended 3:1 input:output. Monthly figures price a RAG assistant with the published cached-input rate where there is one.
- Same job — suggestions must support every capability Claude Opus 5.5 has among tool calling and image input. Other listings of the same model (free or batch tiers) are variants, not alternatives, and are left out.
A few points on a public benchmark can hide large differences on your own tasks. Shortlist here, then decide with an eval — how to build one.