Low Tide: Opus 5.5 vs Sonnet 5.5 vs Sonnet 5

The verdicts

Opus 5.5 came out on top. Sonnet 5.5 came close, for about 30% less money. Sonnet 5 fell well behind both.

1st · best style, best motion

The opening screen looks like a poster: a soft, oversized title over a sunset, with the type and the sun reflected in the water.
It has the most motion, and it all fits the dusk-on-the-beach mood.
A scrubber and play button let you step through the evening's schedule.
It had the most careful accessibility work of the three.

2nd · very close, best value

It took its own direction, a light cream-and-navy look that feels like print. It doesn't copy the Opus design.
The typography is just as strong as Opus's, with a roman "Low" and an italic "Tide".
On its own it hit on the same idea as Opus: a slider you drag to move through the evening.
It has less motion than Opus, but the animations it does have are well chosen.

3rd · good idea, weak execution

It has a real concept: film-reel framing with sprocket holes and sections numbered as reels.
The layout is a plain stack of boxes, and there's no image in the opening screen.
It has almost no motion.
It adds a live countdown to the gates opening, which is a useful touch.

These come from the Claude Code usage report for each session.

Sonnet 5.5 wrote the most code of the three and still cost about 30% less than Opus 5.5.

This was one prompt with one run per model. Another run could turn out differently.
The rankings are one person's taste. Look at the pages yourself and decide.
All three models picked Fraunces as the display font, which suggests a shared default across the model family.