Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Opus 4.8 leads the LLM Stats Score 49.5 to 36.4. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 1.7x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Anthropic · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 4.8 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 49.5 to 36.4, ranking #22 overall.
In the 10 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 4.8 wins 9; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 4.8 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 4.8
- overall performance matters — it scores 49.5 and ranks #22 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 9 of 10 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2026
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6
- cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
1 more shared indexes
Individual benchmarks
27 reported for Claude Opus 4.8 · 17 for Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Opus 4.8 outperforms in 9 benchmarks (BrowseComp, DeepSWE 1.1, Finance Agent v2, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, LiveBench, MCP Atlas, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better at 1 benchmark (Finance Agent).
Claude Opus 4.8 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4.8 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4.8 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($15.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.8 is more expensive than Claude Sonnet 4.6.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 4.8 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 200,000 tokens. Claude Opus 4.8 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is limited to 64,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Sonnet 4.6
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 4.8 was released on 2026-05-28, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 was released on 2026-02-17.
Claude Opus 4.8 is 3 months newer than Claude Sonnet 4.6.
May 28, 2026
5 months ago
3mo newerFeb 17, 2026
8 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4.8 is available from Anthropic, DeepInfra, Vertex AI. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is available from Anthropic, DeepInfra.
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6.