Opus 5.5 at 'low' reasoning effort matches 'max' on task completion at 12x lower cost
daniel_mac8 · x · 2026-09-24
Developer Daniel Mac ran tests for a project and found Claude Opus 5.5 at 'low' reasoning effort hit parity with 'max' on task completion while costing 12x less.
His recommendation: default to 'low' reasoning effort and raise it only for the hardest problems — a simple lever that can slash token spend in agent workflows.
Related event: Opus 5.5 Low Reasoning Mode Matches Max at 12x Lower Cost(2 posts)→
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