New #1 on SWE-Bench Pro — parallel subagents, same price as Opus 4.7.
100
Coding
96
Writing
98
Research
86
Images
22
Value
97
Long Context
Published benchmarks
88.6%
SWE-bench
1,890
Arena Elo
93%
MMLU
79.2%
GPQA
96%
MATH
Use this when
Hardest coding tasks, parallel agentic workflows, and high-fidelity vision
Skip this if
You need low-latency responses, image generation, or a workflow locked to OpenAI tooling.
Pricing
$10.00/1M in
$50.00/1M out
↑100%since May 2026
Context
1M tokens
Speed
Deliberate
Launched May 27, 2026. Available on Claude API, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Microsoft Foundry, and GitHub Copilot. Fast mode available at $10/$50 per 1M tokens.
Anthropic's new Mythos-class flagship and the most capable coding model anyone can use — 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, an 11-point jump over Opus 4.8. 1M context, 128K output, native parallel subagents. Released June 9, 2026.
Verdict
New global #1 — 80.3% SWE-Bench Pro, the most capable model generally available.
Quality score
98%
Pricing
$10.00/1M in
$50.00/1M out
Speed
Deliberate
Best for the hardest coding tasks, autonomous multi-step agents, and frontier-grade reasoning
Context
1M tokens
Launched June 9, 2026 as the public, Mythos-class release. Available on the Claude API, Microsoft Foundry, and Google Vertex AI. Free for all users until June 22, 2026. Same underlying model as Claude Mythos 5, with safeguards that block specific high-risk cyber responses.
Coding leaderSWE-Bench Pro #1Mythos-classParallel subagentsAgenticLong contextPremiumNew
Best for
The hardest coding tasks, autonomous multi-step agents, and frontier-grade reasoning
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is Anthropic's mid-cycle flagship model, balancing strong reasoning, coding, and instruction-following with a 200K context window. It sits between Haiku and Opus in Anthropic's lineup, offering near-flagship quality at a lower cost than top-tier models.
Verdict
One of the best models for coding and complex instruction-following, but its premium pricing demands premium use cases.
Quality score
81%
Pricing
$6.00/1M in
$30.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
Best for complex coding tasks, multi-step reasoning, and long-document analysis where gpt-4o-class quality is needed without paying for the absolute top tier.
Context
200k tokens
Pricing at $6 input / $30 output per million tokens is significantly higher than GPT-4o ($2.50/$10). Best accessed via Anthropic API or Amazon Bedrock. Claude 3.5 Sonnet (October 2024 version) supersedes the June 2024 release with improved performance.
Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.8 on May 27, 2026. It scores 69.2% on SWE-Bench Pro (up from 64.3% on Opus 4.7), 88.6% on SWE-Bench Verified, and 1890 Arena Elo — 121 points ahead of GPT-5.5. Pricing is unchanged at $5/$25 per 1M tokens. Key new feature: native parallel subagents.
Claude Opus 4.8 now leads all premium coding recommendations, replacing Opus 4.7. At 69.2% SWE-Bench Pro vs 64.3%, it is the clear benchmark leader. Opus 4.7 is retained for legacy comparisons and pinned integrations.
Claude Opus 4.8 is best for hardest coding tasks, parallel agentic workflows, and high-fidelity vision. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around premium pricing and deliberate speed.
When should I avoid Claude Opus 4.8?
You need low-latency responses, image generation, or a workflow locked to OpenAI tooling.
What is a cheaper alternative to Claude Opus 4.8?
Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is the lower-cost option to compare first when you want a similar workflow fit with less token spend.
What is a faster alternative to Claude Opus 4.8?
Anthropic: Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the better pick when response time matters more than maximum depth or premium quality.
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