Model · Anthropic · Text
Claude Opus 4.8
The Opus-tier flagship of the Claude 4 generation, for complex reasoning and long-horizon agentic coding. Superseded by Claude Opus 5 (2026-07-24) but still available on every platform.
- Modality
- Text
- License
- Proprietary (Proprietary)
- Context window
- 1,000,000 tokens 1M default; 200k on Microsoft Foundry. Uses a new tokenizer.
- Released
- May 28, 2026
- Last verified
- September 8, 2026
- Runs locally
- No
- Also handles
- vision
Strengths
- Strongest Opus-tier model for nuanced reasoning and long-horizon agentic coding
- 1M-token context with up to 128k output (300k via Batch API beta)
- Adaptive thinking with effort defaulting to high
Weaknesses
- Premium pricing ($5/$25 per MTok; fast mode $10/$50); slower than Sonnet and Haiku tiers
- Closed weights — cannot be self-hosted
Try it
| Where | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic API | hosted-api | API key required |
| AWS Bedrock | hosted-api | Enterprise / regional |
| Google Vertex AI | hosted-api | GCP integration |
| Claude.ai | product | Paid plans (Pro and above) |
Version history
- Claude Opus 4.8 May 2026 Current Deprecated
- Claude 4.6 Sonnet Feb 2026 Deprecated
- Claude 4.7 Opus Feb 2026 Deprecated
- Claude Haiku 4.5 Oct 2025
Official sources
- Model docs docs
- Announcement announcement
Change log
- — Deprecated — superseded by Claude Opus 5 (released 2026-07-24). Opus 4.8 moves to Anthropic's legacy table; still available on all platforms, retirement not sooner than 2027-05-28.
- — Repositioned as Anthropic's most capable Opus-tier model: Claude Fable 5 launched 2026-06-09 as a new tier above Opus. Opus 4.8 is not superseded and remains the standard-lineup flagship.
- — Initial entry (2026-06-08 catalog refresh, Tier 3). Current flagship Opus, released 2026-05-28; supersedes Claude 4.7 Opus.
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