Claude Opus 5.5 vs GPT-6 Sol: Which One Should You Actually Use?

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Claude Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Sol arrived within an hour of each other, and the comparisons are everywhere. Opus leads the early Artificial Analysis benchmarks. Sol and Luna make everyday AI work much cheaper. Which improvement will you actually notice in your business?

I walk through the published results, the six-out-of-ten benchmark lead, professional work scores and the demos people are sharing. Then we look at API prices, cost per task and why maximum reasoning effort can burn through your budget without improving the answer you need.

I also show how I compare models using a repeatable task from my own work, what Simon Willison's pelican test reveals, and where these models are available at launch. These are first impressions from published tests, other people's examples and my own early experience. Use a task you know well before moving your whole workflow.

The 50% price reduction discussed here is API pricing versus the previous Sol and Luna generations. Subscription prices and usage allowances are separate.

*RESOURCES*

Build one AI brain across your tools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqkglPK9SUE

My Instinct walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9UD7Vs3APE

*CHAPTERS*

00:00 Claude vs GPT: what changed

02:48 Opus 5.5 benchmarks

04:55 What the demos actually show

08:39 GPT-6 Sol and Luna

10:08 The API price gap

13:46 Test models on your own work

15:51 Effort levels and the pelican test

17:27 Update your prompts

18:48 Where to get the new models

20:42 Which model should you use?

*KEY POINTS*

- Opus 5.5 leads the early Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

- Sol and Luna cut API prices by 50% versus their previous generations.

- Compare completed-task cost as well as token prices.

- Try several effort levels on a repeatable task from your work.

- Check model access and refresh old prompts before switching.

*SOURCES AND TOOLS MENTIONED*

Anthropic announcement: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5

OpenAI announcement: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-6-sol-and-luna/

Artificial Analysis, Opus results: https://x.com/ArtificialAnlys/status/2102438210798514391

Artificial Analysis, Sol and Luna: https://x.com/ArtificialAnlys/status/2102462962758033624

Matthew Berman's Unreal demo: https://x.com/MatthewBerman/status/2102483668468195539

Ethan Mollick's shader demo: https://x.com/emollick/status/2102441628661080384

AI/ML API visual comparison: https://x.com/aimlapi/status/2102515672710533417

Simon Willison's tests: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/22/opus-and-sol-and-luna/

Lance Martin's prompt audit: https://x.com/RLanceMartin/status/2102575471502528989

Model availability: https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/models#recommended-models

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