Claude Opus 4.6 can now process up to 2.5x faster
Anthropic just rolled out "fast mode" for its Claude Opus 4.6 AI, increasing output tokens per second (OTPS) by up to 2.5 times, though it does not necessarily reduce time to first token (TTFT).
You can turn it on by setting speed to "fast" in API requests or using /fast in Claude Code during the research preview.
Fast mode isn't free
Fast mode isn't free—it costs quite a bit more: $30 per million input tokens (up to 200K) and $150 per million output tokens, with input token pricing doubling if you go over that limit and output token pricing increasing to $225 per million.
There's also a waitlist for access right now.
Alongside faster speeds, Opus 4.6 adds cool features like agent teams for multitasking, context compaction for long tasks, and adjustable effort levels.
Fast mode keeps all of Opus' smarts while cranking up speed
Fast mode keeps all of Opus 4.6's smarts while cranking up the speed—making it a solid pick if you need both brains and quick results for heavy-duty coding or debugging projects.