AI model APIs · head-to-head
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Opus 5
Same usage, official rates, ranked by nothing but price. Both rate cards, the monthly bill at five workloads, and the exact usage mix where the answer flips.
The pricing verdict Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Opus 5 are identically priced — pick on quality, not cost.
Rate cards
| Per 1M tokens | Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Opus 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $5 | $5 |
| Cached input | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Output | $25 | $25 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
Monthly cost at five workloads
| Workload | Tokens / month | Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Opus 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 1M in · 0.3M out | $12.5 | $12.5 |
| Small app | 10M in · 3M out | $125 | $125 |
| Production app | 50M in · 15M out | $625 | $625 |
| High volume | 200M in · 60M out | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Heavy platform | 1B in · 300M out | $12,500 | $12,500 |
Standard on-demand rates from each provider's official pricing page, verified July 2026; figures exclude caching and batch discounts and any long-context surcharges. Claude Opus 4.8: Cached-input reads bill at ~10% of the input rate. Claude Opus 5: Cached-input reads bill at $0.50 per 1M; cache writes are $6.25 per 1M (5-minute) or $10.00 per 1M (1-hour). Batch API halves the rate to $2.50 in / $12.50 out. Fast mode is a separate premium tier at $10 in / $50 out. Price is one input — quality, latency and context limits differ. Confirm live pricing before committing.