Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Opus 4.8
Benchmark Performance
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-b2e2a31b3d53 · verified_score · leader | 94.00100% of row best · percent · Claude Opus 4.6 (120K, High) | 92.5098% of row best · percent · Claude Opus 4.8 (Max) |
| ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-326661568d5f · verified_score · leader | 69.1796% of row best · percent · Claude Opus 4.6 (120K, High) | 72.08100% of row best · percent · Claude Opus 4.8 (High) |
| LMArena Document Arenadocument-2026-07-30-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,505.91100% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-6-thinking; 95% CI [1498.85646357, 1512.96777060]; votes 24973; rank 3 | 1,468.9098% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-8; 95% CI [1460.58009276, 1477.22476172]; votes 8193; rank 16 |
| LMArena Search Arenasearch-2026-08-24-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,253.42100% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-6-search; 95% CI [1248.44594166, 1258.38585709]; votes 134699; rank 2 | 1,204.3096% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-8; 95% CI [1197.89112684, 1210.71069451]; votes 70998; rank 12 |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,497.70100% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-6; 95% CI [1494.29292018, 1501.10380984]; votes 76032; rank 4 | 1,451.9897% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-8; 95% CI [1447.69484580, 1456.25837678]; votes 49123; rank 38 |
| LMArena Vision Arenavision-2026-08-27-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,311.43100% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-6; 95% CI [1304.90444379, 1317.95290154]; votes 25210; rank 7 | 1,288.8198% of row best · rating · claude-opus-4-8; 95% CI [1281.38044914, 1296.24567110]; votes 13980; rank 23 |
| LiveBench2026-06-25 · overall · leader | 78.6997% of row best · percent · claude-opus-4-6-thinking-auto-high-effort · 9,651 output tokens / case | 81.18100% of row best · percent · claude-opus-4-8-max-effort · 24,171 output tokens / case |
| ToneBench2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d · overall_score · leader | 84.2196% of row best · points · Claude Opus 4.6 · 2,607 output tokens / case | 87.91100% of row best · points · Claude Opus 4.8 (max effort) · 2,741 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 5 benchmark winsOverall lead | 3 benchmark wins |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Technical Differences
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Family | Claude 4 | Claude 4 8 |
| Model | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
| Version | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-05 | 2026-05-28 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-05-01 | 2026-01-01 |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Total parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | Unknown | Unknown |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Provider access | Anthropic (Standard) | Anthropic (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, tools |
15 comparable fields · 7 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
Claude Opus 4.6 Capabilities
Claude Opus 4.8 Capabilities
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Opus 4.8 FAQs
Is Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Opus 4.8, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
Claude Opus 4.6 is $5.00 and Claude Opus 4.8 is $5.00 per million tokens, so they are tied on this metric. Claude Opus 4.6 is $25.00 and Claude Opus 4.8 is $25.00 per million tokens, so they are tied on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. Claude Opus 4.6 is 1,000,000 and Claude Opus 4.8 is 1,000,000.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
Claude Opus 4.6 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 8 protocol-matched benchmarks from 4 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Opus 4.6 is not marked open weight; Claude Opus 4.8 is not marked open weight.
Can Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Opus 4.8 understand images?+
Claude Opus 4.6 is documented with image input; Claude Opus 4.8 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Opus 4.6 is 128,000 and Claude Opus 4.8 is 128,000.
Do Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Opus 4.8 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Opus 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Claude Opus 4.8: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
Claude Opus 4.6 has 1 sourced provider route; Claude Opus 4.8 has 2, so Claude Opus 4.8 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Opus 4.8?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.