Claude Sonnet 5 keeps its launch price permanently, scraps the planned increase

What’s changing

On 11 August 2026, Anthropic announced it is making Claude Sonnet 5’s launch pricing permanent, cancelling the price increase it had planned since the model shipped.

When Sonnet 5 launched on 30 June 2026, Anthropic set an introductory price of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, stating it would hold only through 31 August. After that, the original plan was to raise it to $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens.

Anthropic has now confirmed that increase won’t happen. The $2/$10 pricing continues indefinitely.

Before and after this announcement

	Input (per million tokens)	Output (per million tokens)
Cancelled (original plan, effective after 31 Aug)	$3	$15
Now permanent	$2	$10

This is API pricing only

These rates apply to calling Claude through the API, for developers building applications or automation. They have no bearing on Claude.ai Pro or Max subscription pricing, which everyday users pay to chat with Claude directly.

What is Sonnet 5

Claude Sonnet 5 launched on 30 June 2026 as what Anthropic calls its most agentic Sonnet yet. It makes plans, uses tools like browsers and terminals, and runs autonomously at a level that previously required larger, more expensive models.

Why this is worth noting

Making an introductory price permanent is unusual in this industry. Launch pricing is typically a temporary promotion that gets raised later on schedule. Anthropic did not state a reason for the decision in its announcement.

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Pricing details in this article come from the Claude account on X (Twitter), posted 11 August 2026. Read the original post via the source link below.