Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) vs Muse Ember (Max)
Which is better for the money: Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) by Anthropic or Muse Ember (Max) by Meta? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-11-09.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) scores 23.1 points higher (59.1 vs 36.0) but costs 76× as much to run the benchmark ($8910 vs $117; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) when you need intelligence above 36.0, and Muse Ember (Max) when 36.0 is enough.
| Metric | Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) | Muse Ember (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 59.1 | 36.0 | −39.1% Muse Ember (Max) is 39.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $8,909.67 | $117.12 | −98.7% Muse Ember (Max) is 98.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 659.24s | Not reported | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $0.10 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Muse Ember (Max) vs Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback): 39.1% less intelligence, 98.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Fable 5.2 (High, Default Fallback) scores 61.80 for $7106.
- Muse Ember (Max) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
Claude Opus 5.5 (Max, Default Fallback)Muse Ember (Max)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
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