Existing Opus 4.6 deployments
Keep a tested application on the same pinned snapshot while evaluating and planning a migration to a newer Opus model.
Independent tool overview
Claude Opus 4.6 at a glance
Claude Opus 4.6 is an active but legacy Anthropic model with a 1M-token context window, adaptive thinking, 128K output, and strong agentic coding capabilities.
Visit the official Claude Opus 4.6 site ↗
- Lifecycle
- Active, legacy
- Claude API ID
- claude-opus-4-6
- Context window
- 1 million tokens
- Maximum output
- 128K synchronous; 300K Batch API beta
- API price
- $5 input / $25 output per million tokens
- Recommended replacement
- Claude Opus 5
Overview
What Claude Opus 4.6 is
Claude Opus 4.6 is a pinned Anthropic model released in February 2026 for complex reasoning, long-horizon agentic work, coding, research, and professional document tasks. It accepts text and image input, returns text, and exposes a 1 million-token context window with up to 128,000 output tokens in synchronous API requests.
The release introduced adaptive thinking to the Opus line, effort controls for balancing quality, latency, and cost, and better long-context performance than earlier Claude models. It is available through the Claude API, Claude Platform on AWS, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Foundry under platform-specific model IDs.
Opus 4.6 remains available, but Anthropic now classifies it as a legacy model and explicitly recommends migrating to Claude Opus 5 for improved performance. It is still useful when an application has been evaluated and tuned against this exact pinned snapshot, but new deployments receive no price advantage for choosing it over the current Opus model.
Use cases
Who Claude Opus 4.6 is best for
The strongest fit depends on the job you need the product to complete, not the size of its feature list.
Long-context analysis
Process large codebases, document collections, research inputs, or other text-and-image workloads within a 1M-token window.
Complex agentic workflows
Run multi-step coding, debugging, tool-use, research, and professional knowledge-work tasks that benefit from deeper reasoning.
Reproducible model comparisons
Use a fixed, dateless model ID that maps to one snapshot rather than an evergreen alias that changes underneath an evaluation.
Capabilities
Core Claude Opus 4.6 features
One-million-token context
Handles up to 1M input tokens at the standard per-token rate, including prompts beyond 200K tokens.
Large output capacity
Supports up to 128K output tokens synchronously and up to 300K through the Message Batches API beta.
Adaptive thinking
The model decides when deeper reasoning is useful, with high as the default effort level.
Effort controls
Developers can adjust reasoning effort to trade off intelligence, speed, latency, and token consumption for a workload.
Text and vision input
Accepts text and images as input for code, documents, screenshots, charts, and other multimodal analysis, then produces text.
Prompt caching and batch discounts
Reduce repeated-context costs with cache reads and cut asynchronous input and output pricing by 50% through the Batch API.
Pinned model identity
The dateless claude-opus-4-6 identifier points to one fixed snapshot; a newer release receives a different model ID.
Multi-cloud availability
Deploy through Anthropic's API, Claude Platform on AWS, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Foundry.
Process
How the Claude Opus 4.6 workflow works
Step 1
Confirm the version requirement
Choose Opus 4.6 for an existing compatibility or evaluation need; start new work on a current model unless testing shows a reason not to.
Step 2
Use the pinned model ID
Call claude-opus-4-6 on the Claude API or use the documented identifier for the selected cloud platform.
Step 3
Tune cost and reasoning
Set an appropriate effort level, cache stable prompt material, and use batch processing for asynchronous workloads.
Step 4
Evaluate a migration
Run representative prompts and agent traces against Claude Opus 5, then move before Opus 4.6 reaches deprecation or retirement.
Cost
Claude Opus 4.6 pricing and free plan
Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens on the Claude API. Prompt caching and batch processing can reduce repeat and asynchronous costs; US-only inference adds 10%. Partner cloud prices can differ.
Standard API
$5 input / $25 output per MTok
Global inference at the standard first-party Claude API token rates.
- Full 1M-token context at standard pricing
- 128K maximum synchronous output
- Text and image input to text output
- Server-side tools can add separate usage charges
Prompt caching
$0.50 cache reads per MTok
Lower repeat-input costs by caching stable prompt material and retrieving it in later requests.
- $6.25 per MTok for a 5-minute cache write
- $10 per MTok for a 1-hour cache write
- $0.50 per MTok for cache hits and refreshes
- Cache modifiers can stack with batch and residency pricing
Batch API
$2.50 input / $12.50 output per MTok
A 50% token discount for asynchronous batch processing.
- Up to 300K output tokens in beta
- Designed for workloads that do not need immediate responses
- Prompt caching discounts can still apply
- Full 1M-token context remains available
US-only inference
1.1× standard rates
Optional first-party data residency that keeps inference in the United States.
- 10% multiplier on input and output tokens
- Multiplier also applies to cache writes and reads
- Global routing remains the default
- Partner cloud regional prices are set separately
Pricing checked . Check current pricing at the source ↗
Assessment
Claude Opus 4.6 strengths and limitations
Where it stands out
- Large 1M-token context window with strong long-document and codebase retrieval
- High-capacity 128K synchronous output and 300K batch output beta
- Adaptive thinking and effort controls for complex agentic work
- Fixed model snapshot supports reproducible evaluations and stable behavior
- Available across Anthropic and major cloud platforms
What to consider
- Anthropic labels Opus 4.6 as legacy and recommends Claude Opus 5
- It costs the same $5/$25 per million tokens as the newer Opus 5 model
- Reliable knowledge cutoff is May 2025 even though the model was released in February 2026
- Fast mode is no longer available for Opus 4.6
- Anthropic guarantees availability only until at least February 5, 2027, and may announce deprecation after that lifecycle window
Compare
Claude Opus 4.6 alternatives
The right alternative depends on the specific output, workflow, controls and budget your project requires.
Consumer
Claude Opus 4.8
A newer Opus 4.x snapshot with improved reliability and agentic performance at the same standard token price.
Explore Claude Opus 4.8 →Consumer
Claude Opus 4.7
A closer migration step for teams that want newer agentic coding behavior without jumping directly to the Claude 5 generation.
Explore Claude Opus 4.7 →Consumer
Claude Sonnet 5
A substantially cheaper current model with a 1M context window and strong coding and agentic capabilities.
Explore Claude Sonnet 5 →Questions
Claude Opus 4.6 FAQs
Is Claude Opus 4.6 still available?
Yes. Anthropic lists claude-opus-4-6 as active but legacy. It remains available on the Claude API and supported cloud platforms.
Is Claude Opus 4.6 the latest Claude model?
No. Anthropic has released newer Opus and Claude 5 models and recommends migrating Opus 4.6 workloads to Claude Opus 5.
How much does Claude Opus 4.6 cost?
Standard Claude API pricing is $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens. Batch processing is half price, prompt caching has separate rates, and US-only inference adds 10%.
What is the context window for Claude Opus 4.6?
The model supports a 1 million-token context window. Anthropic's current pricing docs say the full window is billed at standard rates.
What is the maximum output for Claude Opus 4.6?
Synchronous API requests support up to 128K output tokens. The Message Batches API supports up to 300K output tokens through a beta feature.
Does Claude Opus 4.6 support images?
Yes. It accepts text and image input and produces text output.
When will Claude Opus 4.6 retire?
Anthropic currently says retirement will be no sooner than February 5, 2027. The model has not been deprecated as of this review, but its legacy status means developers should prepare to migrate.
Bottom line
Our Claude Opus 4.6 verdict
Claude Opus 4.6 remains a capable, stable model for applications already tuned to its behavior, especially those using long context, large outputs, and agentic coding. It is not the best default for a new integration: Anthropic labels it legacy, recommends Opus 5, and charges the same token price for the newer model. Keep it for compatibility or reproducible evaluation, not because it is still the top Claude option.
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