Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Opus 5.5
| Benchmark | Opus 4.8 | Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Humanity's Last Exam | 48.7 | 54.7 |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 | 21.7 | 52.5 |
| AutomationBench-AA | 45.6 | 61.2 |
| MMMU-Pro (vision) | — | 85.7 |
Specs
| Spec | Opus 4.8 | Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M | $5 | $4 |
| Output, per 1M | $25 | $20 |
| Cost per task? | $4.08 | $1.34 |
| Speed, tok/s | 60 | 82 |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Released | May 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| See images | ✓ | ✓ |
| Read PDFs | Partial | ✓ |
| Hear audio | — | — |
| Watch video | — | — |
| Call tools | ✓ | ✓ |
| Force a tool call | Partial | — |
| Return strict JSON | ✓ | ✓ |
| Search the web | ? | ✓ |
| Run code | ? | ✓ |
| Use a computer | ? | ✓ |
What breaks when you switch
Opus 4.8 → Opus 5.5
No forced tool use›
Forced tool_choice any or tool returns HTTP 400; remove the forced choice.
Thinking is always on›
Disabled thinking or a manual budget returns HTTP 400; omit thinking or use adaptive thinking.
Remove sampling parameters›
Non-default temperature, top_p or top_k returns HTTP 400; omit these parameters and use prompting.
No assistant prefill›
Assistant prefill returns HTTP 400; use structured outputs or system instructions, with system instructions on Bedrock.
Old computer tool rejected · Claude API / Google Cloud›
The computer_20251124 tool returns HTTP 400 on the Claude API and Google Cloud; use computer_toolset_20260801 there.
Return thinking blocks unmodified›
Edited, reordered or partially dropped thinking blocks return HTTP 400; echo assistant messages complete and unmodified with tool results.
Opus 5.5 → Opus 4.8
Nothing known.