Artificial Analysis (@ArtificialAnlys) · 10/14/2026, 08:44:35
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Tops Coding Agent Index: Max Mode Leads Performance, XHigh Offers Better Cost-Efficiency
Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index, with its max effort mode scoring 68 points. However, the xhigh mode offers a compelling cost-performance trade-off, achieving 63 points at less than a quarter of the cost ($3.33 vs $14.19). The max mode boosts performance by generating 4.8× more output tokens and taking 3.4× more turns, yielding significant gains on benchmarks like Terminal-Bench 4.0.
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Artificial Analysis (@ArtificialAnlys) · 2026-10-14 00
Sonnet 5.5 tops the Coding Agent Index at max effort, while xhigh offers an attractive cost-performance trade-off: 63 points versus 68 for less than a quarter of the cost
In Claude Code, @AnthropicAI’s Sonnet 5.5 scores 68 at max versus 63 at xhigh. At 3.33 per task, choosing xhigh cuts cost by 77% for 5.5 fewer Index points.
Max generates 4.8× as many output tokens and takes 3.4× as many turns. It improves all three benchmark scores, with the largest gain on Terminal-Bench 4.0: 58.1% → 66.2%.
