Pricing comparison
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Opus 4.6
Per-token pricing, full-workload cost ladders, and monthly volume projections. Numbers sourced directly from each provider's rate card.
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.8
- Input
- $5.00 / 1M
- Output
- $25.00 / 1M
- Cached input
- -
- Context
- 1M
- Max output
- 128K
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
- Input
- $5.00 / 1M
- Output
- $25.00 / 1M
- Cached input
- -
- Context
- 1M
- Max output
- 128K
Cost per request
Four common workload shapes, input tokens and a 1:2 output ratio (a standard chat/completion pattern). Long-context surcharges apply automatically where the provider charges them.
| Scenario | Tokens (in / out) | Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Opus 4.6 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short prompt | 100 / 200 | $0.0055 | $0.0055 | tie |
| Typical request | 1,000 / 2,000 | $0.0550 | $0.0550 | tie |
| Long document | 10,000 / 5,000 | $0.1750 | $0.1750 | tie |
| Large prompt | 100,000 / 10,000 | $0.7500 | $0.7500 | tie |
Monthly bill at scale
Projected monthly cost at typical request volume, assuming the "typical request" shape above (1k in, 2k out).
| Traffic | Req / month | Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Opus 4.6 | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small SaaS | 1,000 | $55.00 | $55.00 | - |
| Growing product | 10,000 | $550.00 | $550.00 | - |
| Heavy usage | 100,000 | $5,500 | $5,500 | - |
Which should you use?
Both models cost the same on the typical chat-shape request, so pick on capability, not bill.
Live cost calculator
Type in any token counts - both prices update instantly. Uses base input/output rates (no cache discount, no long-context tier).
Claude Opus 4.8
$0.0175
per request
Claude Opus 4.6
$0.0175
per request
Try both in the estimator →
Drop your actual prompt in, tokens are counted with the provider's own tokenizer, and the dollar number matches what lands on your invoice.
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Opus 4.6?
- They cost the same on a typical 1,000-input / 2,000-output request. Pick on capability, not cost.
- What's the difference in per-token pricing?
- Claude Opus 4.8 charges $5.00 per 1M input tokens and $25.00 per 1M output tokens. Claude Opus 4.6 charges $5.00 / $25.00 per 1M.
- Which has the bigger context window?
- Both hold 1M of input.
- How fresh is this comparison?
- Claude Opus 4.8 was re-verified on 2026-07-01 and Claude Opus 4.6 on 2026-04-06 against each provider's published rate card. Calcis re-checks every row on a rolling schedule and re-deploys when a provider changes pricing.
Claude Opus 4.8 verified 2026-07-01 · Claude Opus 4.6 verified 2026-04-06. Rate cards at Anthropic and Anthropic.