Claude Opus 4.8 Explained: Price, Specs and Legacy Status
In short: Claude Opus 4.8 is an Anthropic AI model released in May 2026 and now listed by Anthropic as a legacy model - still available, but succeeded by newer Opus models. It costs $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, with a 1M-token context window and up to 128k tokens of output. It reads text and images and writes text.
What is Claude Opus 4.8?
Claude Opus 4.8 is a large language model in Anthropic's Opus line, the company's largest Claude models. It was released on 28 May 2026. Anthropic's models overview files it under "Legacy models", alongside other earlier Opus and Sonnet versions. It was succeeded by Claude Opus 5, and the Opus line has since moved on to Claude Opus 5.5.
For how models like this work, see how LLMs work.
What does "legacy model" mean?
A legacy model is an older model that is still available to use, but no longer Anthropic's current version. In Anthropic's documentation, legacy models remain callable, and retirement dates are published in advance. Opus 4.8 can still be used in the Claude API and through cloud platforms.
How much does Claude Opus 4.8 cost?
Input costs $5 per million tokens and output $25. From Anthropic's pricing page:
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $5 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $25 |
| Cached input (cache hit) / 1M tokens | $0.50 |
| Batch API | 50% off input and output |
| Long-context surcharge | None - the full window is billed at the standard rate |
For comparison, the current Opus model, Claude Opus 5.5, costs $4 input and $20 output per million tokens. All Opus prices are explained in Claude Opus pricing.
What are Claude Opus 4.8's specs?
| Spec | Claude Opus 4.8 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic |
| Released | May 28, 2026 |
| Status | Available (legacy) |
| Context window | 1M tokens |
| Maximum output | 128k tokens |
| Input | Text and images |
| Output | Text |
| Tools | Function calling, structured output, code execution, web search |
| Where to use it | Claude API, Claude apps, AWS Bedrock, Google Cloud, Microsoft Foundry |
| Licence | Proprietary - not downloadable |
How does Claude Opus 4.8 compare with Opus 5?
Opus 4.8 and Opus 5 have the same token prices, the same 1M-token context window and the same 128k maximum output. Both cost $5 input and $25 output per million tokens, with the same $0.50 cached-input rate and 50% Batch API discount. Opus 5 is the later model; both are now on Anthropic's legacy list, and Anthropic's documentation includes a migration guide for moving to Claude Opus 5.5.
How does Claude Opus 4.8 rank?
On LMArena's text leaderboard Claude Opus 4.8 has 1474 Elo (rank 41). Claude Opus 5 has 1492 Elo (rank 14, high effort) and Claude Opus 5.5 has 1509 Elo (rank 3, high effort). The full ranked table is on our benchmarks page.
Words to know
- Opus - Anthropic's line of largest Claude models.
- Legacy model - an older model still available, with retirement announced in advance.
- Token - a chunk of text; prices are per million tokens.
- Context window - the most tokens a model can handle in one request.
- Cached input - repeated input billed at a lower rate.
- Batch API - a way to send many requests to be processed later at a discount.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Opus 4.8 still available?+
Yes. Anthropic lists Claude Opus 4.8 as a legacy model, which means it can still be used in the Claude API and on cloud platforms, with any retirement date announced in advance.
How much does Claude Opus 4.8 cost?+
Claude Opus 4.8 costs $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens. Cached input costs $0.50 per million tokens and the Batch API is 50% off.
What is the context window of Claude Opus 4.8?+
Claude Opus 4.8 has a 1M-token context window with no long-context surcharge, and can write up to 128k tokens in one reply.
What is the difference between Claude Opus 4.8 and Opus 5?+
They have the same prices, context window and maximum output. Opus 5 is the later model. Both are now on Anthropic's legacy list, succeeded by Claude Opus 5.5.
When was Claude Opus 4.8 released?+
Claude Opus 4.8 was released on 28 May 2026.
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