Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 5
Price, context and benchmark scores side by side — every number from the live model catalogue.
| Claude Opus 4.8anthropic | Claude Sonnet 5anthropic | |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $5.00 | $2.00 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $25.00 | $10.00 |
| 1M in + 300K out | $12.50 | $5.00 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Intelligence index | 55.7 | 53.4 |
| Coding index | 74.3 | 71.5 |
| Agentic index | 47.2 | 46.7 |
| Cheapest provider | Azure | Azure |
| Providers serving it | 4 | 4 |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Image input | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning mode | Yes | Yes |
| Released | May 27, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 |
Which one to pick
Pick Claude Opus 4.8 if…
- You want the higher general-intelligence score (55.7).
- Code quality is the priority — it leads on the coding index (74.3).
- You are running agent loops — higher agentic index (47.2).
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 if…
- Token cost matters: $10.00 per 1M output vs $25.00.
- You need the bigger context window (1M).
FAQ
Is Claude Opus 4.8 better than Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Opus 4.8 scores higher on general intelligence (55.7 vs 53.4), while Claude Sonnet 5 is 2.5× cheaper per output token ($10.00 vs $25.00). For code, Claude Opus 4.8 leads (74.3 coding index). Claude Sonnet 5 takes the larger context at 1M.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5, at $10.00 per 1M output tokens versus $25.00. On a 1M input + 300K output workload that is $5.00 against $12.50.
Can I self-host Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Opus 4.8: closed weights, API only. Claude Sonnet 5: closed weights, API only.