comparison
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Haiku 4.5
Token pricing, context window and real monthly cost, side by side. Claude Haiku 4.5 is the cheaper of the two for a typical workload — about 5.0× less.
Positioned by published specs — size, context and modality — not measured performance; a smaller model can sometimes outperform a larger one on your task.
Claude Opus 4.8 (Flagship) is two classes above Claude Haiku 4.5 (Mini) — different use-case territory. Weigh the saving against how hard your task is; treat them as alternatives, not equals.
| metric | Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Haiku 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $5.00 | $1.00 |
| Output / 1M | $25.00 | $5.00 |
| Context | 1M | 200K |
| Technical class | Flagship | Mini |
| Cost @ typical workload | $4,000/mo | $800/mo |
| Modality | text + image | text + image |
| Price source | list | list |
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
Snapshot . Cost uses a typical workload; tune it in the calculator. How we measure →
Which should you pick?
On a typical workload, Claude Haiku 4.5 costs $800/mo against Claude Opus 4.8's $4,000/mo — roughly 5.0× cheaper. But the ranking depends on your output-to-input ratio: output is the pricier direction for both, so an output-heavy job (code generation, long answers) widens the gap while an input-heavy one (summarization, retrieval) narrows it. If you need to fit more in a single prompt, Claude Opus 4.8 has the larger 1M-token window (~1,500 pages). By technical class (size and context, not measured capability), Claude Opus 4.8 is a Flagship and Claude Haiku 4.5 a Mini — so the lower price partly reflects a smaller class, not just a discount.
These are list and routed market prices, not measured outcomes. Two models at the same rate can still cost different amounts to finish the same task, because verbose or reasoning-heavy models emit more tokens. That gap is exactly what measured cost-per-task captures. The technical-class read above is likewise spec-based — size, context and modality, not measured performance — so a smaller model can still outperform a larger one on your specific task.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Haiku 4.5 cheaper?
For a typical workload (1,500 input + 500 output tokens × 200,000 requests/month), Claude Haiku 4.5 costs $800/mo versus $4,000/mo for Claude Opus 4.8 — about 5.0× less. Because output is priced higher than input, the winner can flip if your workload writes much more or less than this; check your own numbers in the calculator.
What's the difference between Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Haiku 4.5 from Anthropic?
Same provider, different tier. On price, Claude Opus 4.8 is $5.00/$25.00 per 1M (in/out) and Claude Haiku 4.5 is $1.00/$5.00. By technical class (size & context) it's Flagship (Claude Opus 4.8) versus Mini (Claude Haiku 4.5). Claude Opus 4.8 carries the larger 1M-token context.
Is Claude Haiku 4.5 in the same class as Claude Opus 4.8?
No. By size & context, Claude Haiku 4.5 is a Mini and Claude Opus 4.8 is a Flagship — 2 classes apart, so they're not drop-in substitutes. This is a spec comparison (size, context, modality), not a measured-performance one; a smaller model can still win on a task it's suited to.
Why is Claude Haiku 4.5 so much cheaper than Claude Opus 4.8?
Claude Haiku 4.5 has a much lower per-token rate — $5.00/1M output versus $25.00, and it's a smaller technical class (Mini vs Flagship). The headline rate isn't the whole story, though: a verbose model can cost more to finish a task than its rate implies — that's what measured cost-per-task captures.
Which handles longer prompts, Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Haiku 4.5?
Claude Opus 4.8 — its 1M-token context window (~1,500 pages of text) is the larger of the two, by roughly 5×.
More comparisons
- GPT-5.5 vs Claude Opus 4.8
- Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.4
- GPT-5.4 vs Claude Haiku 4.5
- Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GPT-5.4 mini
- Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GPT-5.4 nano
- Claude Fable 5 vs Claude Opus 4.8
Related
- Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Haiku 4.5 — full specs and price history.
- API cost calculator — compare on your own workload.
- All comparisons — the full head-to-head index.