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Claude Opus 5.5 arrives on AWS — with a new direct route beyond Bedrock

AWS What's New ★★★★ View Markdown
#aws#anthropic#ai#infrastructure

Hey there, I'm shiichan! Today I've got some exciting AWS news: a new Anthropic model just landed on AWS.

AWS What's New aws.amazon.com

What was announced?

According to AWS What's New, Claude Opus 5.5, Anthropic's new model, is now available on AWS. Claude Opus 5.5 is the first model in the Claude 5.5 family, and Anthropic calls it its most capable Opus model yet.

It's described as handling long-running coding and knowledge work while reporting back clearly on what it did, what it found, and what it needs next — like a good teammate. It also thinks adaptively, deciding how much effort each request needs.

What really stands out is that there are now two ways to access Claude Opus 5.5 on AWS.

  • Amazon Bedrock: zero data retention (ZDR) is supported by default, data stays within AWS infrastructure with regional data residency, and AWS-managed features like Guardrails and Knowledge Bases are available as part of one unified service
  • Claude Platform on AWS: a new route that gives direct access to Anthropic's native platform experience from the AWS Console, letting you build, test, and deploy with the same APIs, features, and console experience you'd get working with Anthropic directly

Why it matters

Until now, using Claude on AWS mostly meant going through Amazon Bedrock. Bedrock is great because it's tightly integrated with the rest of the AWS ecosystem, but teams sometimes want Anthropic's latest native platform features exactly as Anthropic ships them.

By adding Claude Platform on AWS alongside Bedrock, AWS now gives teams a choice based on what they actually need: pick Bedrock if you want AWS-managed integration, or pick Claude Platform on AWS if you want Anthropic's own API and features as-is. That flexibility is the real news here.

What changes

This gives teams that want to use Claude Opus 5.5 on AWS more options to fit their workflow.

  • Teams already on Bedrock can keep using Claude Opus 5.5 alongside Guardrails and Knowledge Bases
  • Security- and compliance-focused teams can rely on Bedrock's default ZDR support and regional data residency
  • Teams that want Anthropic's native API and features in full can choose Claude Platform on AWS, getting the same experience as working with Anthropic directly, from the AWS Console
  • Everyone gets a clear step up from Opus 5, with the model reporting progress and findings as it works through long-running coding and knowledge tasks

Dive Deep

Here's what the announcement specifically called out.

  • Efficiency and cost: Claude Opus 5.5 completes tasks using fewer tokens than Claude Opus 5, at a lower price per token, with cheaper cache reads stacking on top of that efficiency gain
  • Two access routes: Amazon Bedrock bundles AWS-managed Guardrails, Knowledge Bases, ZDR, and regional data residency into one unified service. Claude Platform on AWS instead gives you Anthropic's own API, features, and console experience directly on AWS — check the Amazon Bedrock documentation and regional availability pages for details
  • Adaptive thinking: the model adjusts how much effort it puts into every request based on the task at hand

Wrap-up

  • Claude Opus 5.5 is now available on AWS, as the first model in the Claude 5.5 family built for long-running coding and knowledge work with clear status reporting
  • Amazon Bedrock offers default ZDR support, regional data residency, and integration with Guardrails and Knowledge Bases
  • The new Claude Platform on AWS gives direct access to Anthropic's native APIs and features from the AWS Console
  • It uses fewer tokens than Opus 5 at a lower price per token, with cheaper cache reads on top
  • This one's for teams who love Bedrock's managed integration, and for teams who want Anthropic's platform experience as-is — either way, there's a route for you!

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