What happened
What happened (verified 2026-10-09 on Anthropic docs): Haiku 5.5 prices at $0.10/$0.50 per MTok for prompts ≤100k tokens, then jumps 5× to $0.50/$2.50 above 100k (cache read $0.01 ≤100k / $0.05 above). That is ~75–90% cheaper than Haiku 4.5 ($1/$5) on short prompts, and matches GPT-6 Luna list rates at ≤100k — but long prompts flip: Luna stays cheaper past ~100k/272k. Separately, Max 5x / Max 20x / Team now include monthly Claude Console API credits ($100 / $200 / pooled up to $500) for API + Managed Agents + Agent SDK + playground — not Claude Code, not Claude app overages, not Bedrock/Vertex/Foundry. Credits expire each billing cycle with no rollover; new subscribers wait 7 days; Free/Pro/Enterprise are ineligible. Tool impact: Max buyers who also top up Console finally get included API runway, and short-prompt classification/extraction bots should reprice to Haiku 5.5 — while anyone stuffing >100k context into Haiku pays a silent cliff.
Tool impact
Switch or not?
Try: if you already pay Max 5x/20x or Team and also run Console API side projects, link one Console org this week and turn off auto-reload so spend stops when included credits end. Route short classification/extraction/support bots to Haiku 5.5 when prompts stay under 100k. Avoid: upgrading Pro→Max just for API credits unless you will use both extra chat/Code headroom and the API — credits never cover Claude Code and vanish monthly. Don’t move long-context (>100k) pipelines to Haiku 5.5; Luna (or Sonnet with cache) usually wins there. Next: (1) link Console org; (2) re-run your Haiku 4.5 workload and budget ~+25% tokens if the new tokenizer is fattier; (3) recompute Sonnet 5.5 cache-heavy agents at $0.10/MTok cache reads (was $0.20). last-verified 2026-10-09.
Money / risk
Haiku 5.5’s 100k cliff is per-request prompt length (including cache reads/writes) — one fat RAG pack can jump 5× without a plan change. Credits don’t cover Claude Code, so Max + Code + API still needs a separate Code budget. Auto-reload only watches purchased balance and can fire while promotional credits remain. Each plan links to one Console org permanently (support to change). Unused credits expire; treating $100–$500 as a bankable runway is how you over-buy Max.
Sources (multi-channel)
GitHub, docs, blogs, video — not a single-platform dump.
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docs
Anthropic — Model pricing (Haiku 5.5 ≤100k / >100k)
Official: $0.10/$0.50 ≤100k; $0.50/$2.50 >100k; Sonnet 5.5 cache hits $0.10 (0.05×).
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docs
Anthropic — API credits for Max and Team subscribers
Max 5x $100 / Max 20x $200 / Team pooled ≤$500; covers Console API not Claude Code; no rollover.
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docs
Anthropic — Consumer/plan pricing page
Cross-check Max/Team seat ladder before upgrading for credits alone.
Source
Anthropic — Claude API pricing + API credits for Max/Team · verify independently