🔍 Read the full analysis: How I Split AI Work Between Opus, Sol, And Jev on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Thorsten Meyer’s Sept. 29 report assigns Opus 5.5 to building, GPT-6.1 Sol to detailed review and Jev to high-volume yes-or-no decisions. The approach weighs benchmark scores against estimated cost per task, while the report says the figures do not establish which model will perform best on every workload.
In a report dated Sept. 29, 2026, Thorsten Meyer said he uses Claude Opus 5.5 for software building, GPT-6.1 Sol for detail work and review, and Jev for high-volume yes-or-no and routing decisions. The split reflects a cost-and-capability calculation based on Artificial Analysis benchmark data; it matters to teams deciding whether to use one model for every task or route work among several.
Meyer identifies Opus 5.5 at high effort as his main model for features, APIs, multi-file work and refactors. He gives it an Intelligence Index score of 54 and an estimated cost of $1.82 per task. For architecture, migrations and trust-boundary work, he uses xhigh: a score of 56 at $3.46 per task. At the max setting, Opus scores 58 and costs $5.98 per task.
He assigns GPT-6.1 Sol to close examination of files and code changes, and to review work produced by Opus. The report lists Sol at $0.32 per task on high and $0.39 on xhigh, with index scores of 50 and 51. Meyer says that price makes it practical to run a review on each meaningful change. He describes Jev as unable to write prose, using it instead for high-volume binary decisions and routing; the supplied material gives no benchmark score or per-task price for Jev.
The report lists six models and settings in its comparison: Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Fable 5.1, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna. It says their top-setting scores span 37 to 58, while listed costs range from $0.07 to $7.63 per task. Meyer recommends Sonnet at high effort for scoped work such as documents and slides, and Luna for classification, extraction and routing. Astra and Fable are alternatives when task-specific tests favor them.
Opus builds. Sol reviews. Jev decides.
One price tape, six models
Score against cost, at every effort setting
The effort dial moves the bill more than the model
Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5
GPT-6.1 Sol: near-Astra scores at a fraction of the price
Three published settings
| Setting | Index | Cost per task | Output tokens | First token |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | 48 | $0.21 | 15M | 5.3 s |
| high | 50 | $0.32 | 25M | 57 s |
| xhigh | 51 | $0.39 | 36M | 69 s |
Same score band, very different bill
My stack: who builds, who reviews
Cheaper tokens are not cheaper work
Read the numbers with four warnings
Part 2: Jev, the model that decides instead of writing
One call in, typed answers out
Three question types
Confidence is the superpower
Three uses running in my publishing operation
The fit test, then the shadow test
- Replay 300 to 500 past decisions
- Compare overall and per confidence band
- Read 20 disagreements, decide who was right
- High band at 95% or better?
- Own flag, off by default
- Canary on 5 to 10 units
- Roll out in the confident band only
24 use cases, sorted by how well they fit
Proven in production
- 1Relevance gate
- 2Language check
- 3Classifier fallback
Publishing and content
- 4Thin-source detector
- 5Same-event dedupe
- 6Product fits roundup
- 7Disclosure present
- 8Headline quality
- 9Comment moderation
Commerce and support
- 10Support-ticket routing
- 11Return-reason coding
- 12Review to feature complaints
- 13Catalogue taxonomy
- 14Order-fraud pre-triage
Software and AI systems
- 15LLM guardrail
- 16RAG passage filter
- 17Citation check
- 18Tool and intent routing
- 19Log-line triage
- 20PR risk triage
Business ops and home
- 21Inbox triage
- 22Expense categorisation
- 23Lead qualification
- 24Smart-home intent
Limits, cost and one hard rule
Why Meyer Adds a Review Model
The workflow treats model choice as a task-level cost decision. Meyer argues that paying for the highest available setting across all work can raise costs sharply for small score gains. In his figures, Opus rises from $1.82 per task at high effort to $5.98 at max, a 73% increase from xhigh to max for two additional index points. He also reports Sonnet 5.5 at max costing $7.60 per task for a score of 56, compared with Opus at 58 for $5.98.
A separate model reviewing generated work may catch issues the authoring model misses, and Meyer says the lower listed cost of Sol makes repeated reviews affordable in his workflow. That is his operational judgment, not evidence that a second model will reliably find defects. He cautions that review quality depends on the requirements and evidence provided: two models can share the same mistaken assumptions, and passing tests alone do not settle whether a change should ship.
The cost figures also put human review time in the calculation. Meyer says even a small saving on model charges can be erased by an extra minute of human review, but labels that example illustrative rather than measured. The practical outcome will depend on task complexity, correction rates and how much oversight a team needs.
The Benchmarks Behind the Split
Meyer says the scores come from the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.3.x, except where otherwise noted. He describes it as a map of general capability rather than a verdict on a reader’s workload, and advises shadow-testing before switching systems. The figures in the report are presented as estimates for defined benchmark tasks, not as a guarantee of production cost or output quality for a particular team.
The report’s effort-level table shows that settings change both scores and costs. For Opus 5.5, the listed score moves from 42 at low effort to 58 at max, while estimated task cost rises from $0.55 to $5.98. For Sonnet 5.5, the score moves from 36 to 56 and cost from $0.41 to $7.60. Meyer favors medium for everyday documents and high for Sonnet’s scoped work; he says max is rarely justified in his use.
For GPT-6.1 Sol, the report says Artificial Analysis listed medium, high and xhigh settings when it was published. Medium scored 48 at $0.21 per task, high scored 50 at $0.32 and xhigh scored 51 at $0.39. Meyer compares Sol xhigh with Astra and Fable, whose listed scores are one or two points higher, while their stated task costs are substantially greater. He notes that a one-point gap may fall within measurement noise.
Limits of the Cost Comparison
The supplied report does not include the benchmark methodology, uncertainty ranges or enough detail to independently reproduce its per-task cost estimates. It does not define Jev’s provider, price, evaluation results or routing accuracy. Its figures should therefore be read as the report’s account of one benchmark and workflow, not as independently verified results for every use case.
Some measurements may also change as model settings and benchmark listings are updated. Meyer says the index had not published low or max results for GPT-6.1 Sol at the time of writing. He reports first-token delays of 57 seconds at high and 69 seconds at xhigh, which may limit interactive use, but the material does not describe the full testing conditions or how those delays vary across workloads.
The report does not provide a controlled comparison of the complete workflow against a single-model setup. It remains unclear how often Sol catches errors, how many Opus outputs need rework, or whether the savings in model charges outweigh added review and routing overhead for other teams.
Test the Workflow on Real Tasks
Meyer’s stated next step for readers is to shadow-test models on their own work before changing defaults. A team could compare outputs against its existing process, track error rates and review time, and record total cost per completed task rather than relying on index scores alone. Those results would help determine whether Opus, Sol, Jev or the listed alternatives fit particular tasks.
The report does not announce a formal follow-up test or a date for updated results. Further detail on Jev’s performance, the benchmark’s assumptions and the treatment of human review would help readers assess the full workflow. Until those details are available, the model assignments remain Meyer’s reported practice and a proposal to evaluate against local requirements.
Key Questions
What jobs does Meyer assign to Opus 5.5?
He uses Opus 5.5 at high effort for features, APIs, multi-file changes and refactors. He reserves xhigh for harder work such as architecture and migrations.
Why does he use GPT-6.1 Sol for review?
The report lists Sol at $0.32 per task on high and $0.39 on xhigh. Meyer says that cost makes a separate review pass practical in his workflow; the report does not show that Sol will catch every error.
What does Jev do in the workflow?
Meyer describes Jev as a decision model that cannot write a sentence. He uses it for high-volume yes-or-no decisions and routing, but the supplied report does not provide its benchmark score or price.
Do the benchmark scores show which model is best for every team?
No. Meyer says the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index measures general capability and is not a verdict on a particular workload. He advises testing models against a team’s own tasks before making a switch.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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