Claude Haiku 5.5 vs MAI-1-preview
Anthropic · US | Microsoft · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Haiku 5.5 for 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k) or first haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence. Pick MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai or ranked in the top 15 on lm arena at launch. On a tight budget at scale, MAI-1-preview is the value pick.
Claude Haiku 5.5 (Anthropic) and MAI-1-preview (Microsoft) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Haiku 5.5 is anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens. MAI-1-preview is microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Context window: Claude Haiku 5.5 holds 7.8× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Claude Haiku 5.5 is the newer model by about 14 months (released October 7, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude Haiku 5.5 | MAI-1-preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic (US) | Microsoft (US) |
| Released | October 7, 2026 | August 28, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 128K (~192 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens | Not published |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
5x the context window of Haiku 4.5 (1M vs 200K tokens) and double the max output (128K vs 64K)
Claude Haiku 5.5
Its 1M tokens window holds about 7.8× more than MAI-1-preview's 128K in a single prompt.
First Haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence
Claude Haiku 5.5
MAI-1-preview is comparatively weak here — a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model
Anthropic's cheapest small model yet — runs about 75% cheaper on average than Haiku 4.5
Claude Haiku 5.5
Anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI
MAI-1-preview
Claude Haiku 5.5 is comparatively weak here — extended thinking can no longer be fully disabled — only dialed between low, medium, and high effort
Ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch
MAI-1-preview
MAI-1-preview lists ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch among its strengths; Claude Haiku 5.5 does not.
Trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment
MAI-1-preview
Claude Haiku 5.5 is comparatively weak here — pricing jumps roughly 5x beyond 100K-token prompts ($0.50/$2.50 per million vs the headline $0.10/$0.50)
Lowest cost at scale
MAI-1-preview
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Claude Haiku 5.5's $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Claude Haiku 5.5
Its 1M tokens window is about 7.8× larger than MAI-1-preview's 128K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ MAI-1-preview
At Not published it undercuts Claude Haiku 5.5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Claude Haiku 5.5
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k)
→ Claude Haiku 5.5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai
→ MAI-1-preview
That is its strongest area.
Claude Haiku 5.5: where it fits
Anthropic's October 7, 2026 small-model refresh — a 1M-token context window (up from 200K) at roughly 75% lower average cost than Haiku 4.5, priced at $0.10/$0.50 per million tokens. Released October 7, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for 5x the context window of Haiku 4.5 (1M vs 200K tokens) and double the max output (128K vs 64K), first Haiku-class model with an adjustable 'effort' setting to trade off cost, latency, and intelligence, anthropic's cheapest small model yet — runs about 75% cheaper on average than Haiku 4.5, and over-refuses benign requests only 0.17% of the time on the API, down from Haiku 4.5's 0.44%.
Its trade-offs are real: pricing jumps roughly 5x beyond 100K-token prompts ($0.50/$2.50 per million vs the headline $0.10/$0.50), extended thinking can no longer be fully disabled — only dialed between low, medium, and high effort, and as the smallest tier, trails both Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 on hard reasoning and open-ended work. At $0.1 in / $0.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
MAI-1-preview: where it fits
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Released August 28, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI, ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch, trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment, and rolled into Copilot alongside OpenAI models, giving Microsoft a real second option.
Its trade-offs: a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model, no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product, and distinct from Microsoft's later MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model - an earlier, more general-purpose entry.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Haiku 5.5 and MAI-1-preview overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. MAI-1-preview costs less per token; Claude Haiku 5.5 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Haiku 5.5 for 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k), MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Haiku 5.5 and MAI-1-preview without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Claude Haiku 5.5 or MAI-1-preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Haiku 5.5 leans toward 5x the context window of haiku 4.5 (1m vs 200k tokens) and double the max output (128k vs 64k) while MAI-1-preview leans toward microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Haiku 5.5 or MAI-1-preview?
MAI-1-preview is cheaper — $0.1/$0.5 per 1M tokens vs Not published.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Haiku 5.5 — 1M tokens vs 128K, about 7.8× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Haiku 5.5 and MAI-1-preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Haiku 5.5, MAI-1-preview and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Haiku 5.5 or MAI-1-preview?
Claude Haiku 5.5 — released October 7, 2026, about 14 months after MAI-1-preview.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.