# Claude Opus 4.8: pricing, crowd verdict, pros and cons (2026)

> Anthropic's flagship Opus-tier model for long-horizon agentic coding; 1M context at $5/$25 per 1M tokens.

Source: [GLAD-AI-TOR](https://glad-ia-tor.com) · Full page: https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/claude-opus-4-8
Arena: llm-models · Crowd score: 57% recommend (3 votes, Bayesian-smoothed) · Price: $25/1M out

Anthropic's most capable Opus-tier model, released May 28, 2026. Tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, tool use, and honest self-assessment of its own work, with a 1M-token context window, 128K max output, and adaptive thinking with effort controls. Keeps the exact API surface and pricing of Opus 4.7.

## Key facts

- provider: Anthropic
- contextWindow: 1M tokens (128K max output)
- priceIn: $5/1M in
- priceOut: $25/1M out
- modalities: text, vision (image input up to 2576px, text output)
- openWeights: no

## Ratings (editorial, 1-5)

- reasoning: 4.5/5
- coding: 5/5
- writing: 5/5
- speed: 3/5
- valueForMoney: 3.5/5

## Pros

- SWE-Bench Pro 69.2% (vs 64.3% for Opus 4.7) and beats prior Opus models on CursorBench at every effort level; strong real-world reports on large refactors and multi-file bug hunts
- About 4x less likely than Opus 4.7 to let flaws in its own generated code pass unflagged; big jump on math reasoning (USAMO 2026: 96.7% vs 69.3%)
- 1M-token context and 128K output at unchanged $5/$25 pricing, with no long-context premium; batch API at 50% off ($2.50/$12.50)
- Fast mode (research preview) delivers up to 2.5x output speed at $10/$50, 3x cheaper than Opus 4.7's fast tier ($30/$150)
- Unique API features for agents: mid-conversation system messages that preserve the prompt cache, and Dynamic Workflows spawning parallel subagents in Claude Code
- 84% on Online-Mind2Web browser automation and record score on Legal Agent Benchmark (first model past 10% all-pass); strong enterprise knowledge work (Box reports 87% vs 77% internally)

## Cons

- Turn-by-turn regressions reported: missed obvious instructions in planning docs, answering a narrow slice of the goal, and worse one-shot simple UI generation than 4.7
- Writing style criticized by heavy users: excessive hedging, over-cautious editing that 'cuts anything bold or funny' (Steve Yegge), and pushback loops even against well-evidenced theses
- Language-mixing quirk: users report random Chinese, Cyrillic, or Greek insertions in long research threads
- Visible quality degradation past ~200K tokens in hands-on use despite the advertised 1M window
- Vending-Bench regression: fell for scam suppliers about 30x more than 4.7 and negotiates worse (a side effect of stricter honesty alignment)

## Best for

- long-horizon coding agents
- large refactors and codebase migrations
- code review and debugging
- enterprise knowledge work (legal, financial, research)

## Verdict

A drop-in upgrade for Opus 4.7 users: identical API surface and $5/$25 pricing with real gains on long-horizon agentic coding, code review, and enterprise analysis. Choose it if you run Claude Code, multi-file migrations, security audits, or agent pipelines that inspect, act, and verify over many steps. Skip it for quick one-shot UI snippets or prompts tightly tuned to 4.7 behavior, where users report regressions, and pick Sonnet 5 ($3/$15, intro $2/$10 through Aug 2026) if cost matters more than ceiling capability. Writers sensitive to hedging and over-cautious editing may find its style frustrating.

## Pricing note

Standard tier $5/$25 per 1M tokens (unchanged from Opus 4.7); fast mode research preview at $10/$50 (vs $30/$150 on Opus 4.7's deprecated fast tier); batch API 50% off at $2.50/$12.50; no long-context surcharge up to 1M tokens; prompt cache reads at $0.50/1M.

## Alternatives and head-to-heads

- [Claude Haiku 4.5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/claude-haiku-4-5) (crowd score 67%) · [Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Haiku 4.5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/vs/claude-opus-4-8-vs-claude-haiku-4-5)
- [Claude Fable 5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/claude-fable-5) (crowd score 63%) · [Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Fable 5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/vs/claude-opus-4-8-vs-claude-fable-5)
- [Claude Opus 4.7](https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/claude-opus-4-7) (crowd score 57%) · [Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Opus 4.7](https://glad-ia-tor.com/vs/claude-opus-4-8-vs-claude-opus-4-7)
- [Claude Sonnet 5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/tool/claude-sonnet-5) (crowd score 57%) · [Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 5](https://glad-ia-tor.com/vs/claude-opus-4-8-vs-claude-sonnet-5)

Full ranking: https://glad-ia-tor.com/hall-of-fame/llm-models

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