Claude Haiku 5.5 launches alongside claimable subscription API credits

What happened

Anthropic released Claude Haiku 5.5 on October 7, 2026. It reports an average running-cost reduction of about 75% versus Haiku 4.5, not a uniform per-token discount. Its fastest-model claim applies at standard speeds; Opus Fast Mode is faster. Computer-use and browser-use SDK support is in beta.

Credits need to be claimed

The official help page lists monthly USD credits of $100 for Max 5x and $200 for Max 20x. Team credits are pooled: $20 per Standard seat and $100 per Premium seat, capped at $500 monthly for the team. These are included paid-plan benefits, not cash or universal free access.

Eligible subscriptions must be active for seven days. Claiming requires linking one Claude Console organization and reviewing the credit terms. Team claims require a Primary Owner or Owner; the Console role must be Owner, Admin or Billing. Unused credits expire each billing cycle. They cover eligible Claude Platform usage, not interactive Claude Code or third-party cloud billing.

What to do with this

Editorial suggestion: Follow the linked claim instructions and check the receiving organization carefully. For an initial evaluation, use a small, redacted classification or summary task with known answers and a spending limit. Review errors before automating anything consequential.