Anthropic released Claude Opus 5, the successor flagship in the mainstream numbered line, shipping about six weeks after the premium Fable 5. Opus 5 carried forward the 4.x architecture's strengths at standard Opus pricing.

The release clarified Anthropic's two-track strategy: Fable for customers who would pay double for maximum capability, Opus 5 for everyone else. Sonnet tiers continued as the high-volume workhorse below both.

Opus 5 anchored the numbered line through the summer while Anthropic refined the Fable tier for its 5.1 update in September.