ClaudevsClaude

Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6

Side-by-side comparison of pricing, task quality, and projected cost at higher scale.

Pricing

Side-by-side pricing

Claude Opus 4.8

Flagship

Claude Sonnet 4.6

Mid-tier
Input $/MTok
$5.00
$3.00
Output $/MTok
$25.00
$15.00
Cache discount
90% off
90% off
Context
1M
1M

Quality

Task confidence comparison

Confidence score from zero to one hundred by task type, where higher is better.
Code Generation
63
vs
57
Code Review
94
vs
95
Summarization
69
vs
61
Q&A
85
vs
88
Extraction
73
vs
71
Reasoning
89
vs
85
Classification
80
vs
84
Creative Writing
81
vs
69
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Guidance

When to use Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6

Choose Claude Opus 4.8 when...

  • -You need strong reasoning (confidence 89 vs 85)
  • -You need strong creative writing (confidence 81 vs 69)
  • -You need strong extraction (confidence 73 vs 71)
  • -You need strong summarization (confidence 69 vs 61)

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when...

  • -You need strong code review (confidence 95 vs 94)
  • -You need strong q&a (confidence 88 vs 85)
  • -You need strong classification (confidence 84 vs 80)
  • -Cost matters: 40% cheaper on input tokens

At scale

Cost at scale

Estimated cost assuming a seventy percent input and thirty percent output token split.
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Sonnet 4.6
100K tokens
$1.10
$0.66Cheaper
1M tokens
$11.00
$6.60Cheaper
10M tokens
$110.00
$66.00Cheaper

FAQ

When should I use Claude Opus 4.8 instead of Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Opus 4.8 outperforms Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Code Generation, Summarization, Extraction. It costs $5.00/$25.00 per million tokens (input/output).

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than Claude Opus 4.8?

Yes. Claude Sonnet 4.6 input costs $3.00/MTok vs $5.00/MTok for Claude Opus 4.8, saving 40% on input.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Opus 4.8 has a 1M token context window. Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a 1M token context window.

Track your real costs

Comparisons show estimated costs at list price. The dashboard reveals your real spend and savings.