Pick Claude Opus 4.8 for agentic coding and multi-file debugging or long autonomous tasks. Pick GPT-5.4 Mini for free for every chatgpt user or fast, low-cost general tasks. On a tight budget at scale, GPT-5.4 Mini is the value pick.
Claude Opus 4.8 (Anthropic) and GPT-5.4 Mini (OpenAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Opus 4.8 is the agentic-coding and judgment leader — highest SWE-Bench Pro score ever recorded at launch. GPT-5.4 Mini is openAI's free, fast workhorse — capable general AI with no subscription needed. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: GPT-5.4 Mini is about 20× cheaper on input ($0.25/$2 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
Context window: Claude Opus 4.8 holds 2.5× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 400K (~600 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Claude Opus 4.8 is the newer model by about 2 months (released May 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Claude Opus 4.8
GPT-5.4 Mini
Provider
Anthropic (US)
OpenAI (US)
Released
May 28, 2026
March 18, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
400K (~600 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$0.25/$2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
88.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic coding and multi-file debugging: Claude Opus 4.8 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Long autonomous tasks: Claude Opus 4.8 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Honest uncertainty flagging: Claude Opus 4.8 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Free for every ChatGPT user: GPT-5.4 Mini — A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Fast, low-cost general tasks: GPT-5.4 Mini — A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Subagent capabilities: GPT-5.4 Mini — A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Lowest cost at scale: GPT-5.4 Mini — At $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Claude Opus 4.8 — Its 1M window is about 2.5× larger, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: GPT-5.4 Mini — At $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 4.8, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Claude Opus 4.8 — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic coding and multi-file debugging: Claude Opus 4.8 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is free for every chatgpt user: GPT-5.4 Mini — That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 4.8: where it fits
The agentic-coding and judgment leader — highest SWE-Bench Pro score ever recorded at launch. Released May 28, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for agentic coding and multi-file debugging, long autonomous tasks, honest uncertainty flagging, and professional writing and reasoning.
Its trade-offs are real: highest per-token price of the frontier tier, and not the cheapest for high-volume work. At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
GPT-5.4 Mini: where it fits
OpenAI's free, fast workhorse — capable general AI with no subscription needed. Released March 18, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for free for every ChatGPT user, fast, low-cost general tasks, subagent capabilities, and native multimodal reasoning.
Its trade-offs: smaller context than flagship models, and not for the hardest reasoning. At $0.25 in / $2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.4 Mini overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GPT-5.4 Mini costs less per token; Claude Opus 4.8 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Opus 4.8 for agentic coding and multi-file debugging, GPT-5.4 Mini for free for every chatgpt user. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for GPT-5.4 Mini, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 4.8 leans toward agentic coding and multi-file debugging while GPT-5.4 Mini leans toward free for every chatgpt user, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
GPT-5.4 Mini is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens, roughly 20× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Opus 4.8 — 1M vs 400K, about 2.5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.4 Mini together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.4 Mini and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
Claude Opus 4.8 — released May 28, 2026, about 2 months after GPT-5.4 Mini.
Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.4 Mini
Anthropic · US | OpenAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Opus 4.8 for agentic coding and multi-file debugging or long autonomous tasks. Pick GPT-5.4 Mini for free for every chatgpt user or fast, low-cost general tasks. On a tight budget at scale, GPT-5.4 Mini is the value pick.
Claude Opus 4.8 (Anthropic) and GPT-5.4 Mini (OpenAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Opus 4.8 is the agentic-coding and judgment leader — highest SWE-Bench Pro score ever recorded at launch. GPT-5.4 Mini is openAI's free, fast workhorse — capable general AI with no subscription needed. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: GPT-5.4 Mini is about 20× cheaper on input ($0.25/$2 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
▸Context window: Claude Opus 4.8 holds 2.5× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 400K (~600 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Claude Opus 4.8 is the newer model by about 2 months (released May 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Claude Opus 4.8
GPT-5.4 Mini
Provider
Anthropic (US)
OpenAI (US)
Released
May 28, 2026
March 18, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
400K (~600 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$0.25/$2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
88.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic coding and multi-file debugging
Claude Opus 4.8
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Long autonomous tasks
Claude Opus 4.8
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Honest uncertainty flagging
Claude Opus 4.8
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.8.
Free for every ChatGPT user
GPT-5.4 Mini
A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Fast, low-cost general tasks
GPT-5.4 Mini
A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Subagent capabilities
GPT-5.4 Mini
A core design strength of GPT-5.4 Mini.
Lowest cost at scale
GPT-5.4 Mini
At $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Claude Opus 4.8
Its 1M window is about 2.5× larger, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ GPT-5.4 Mini
At $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 4.8, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Claude Opus 4.8
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic coding and multi-file debugging
→ Claude Opus 4.8
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is free for every chatgpt user
→ GPT-5.4 Mini
That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 4.8: where it fits
The agentic-coding and judgment leader — highest SWE-Bench Pro score ever recorded at launch. Released May 28, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for agentic coding and multi-file debugging, long autonomous tasks, honest uncertainty flagging, and professional writing and reasoning.
Its trade-offs are real: highest per-token price of the frontier tier, and not the cheapest for high-volume work. At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
GPT-5.4 Mini: where it fits
OpenAI's free, fast workhorse — capable general AI with no subscription needed. Released March 18, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for free for every ChatGPT user, fast, low-cost general tasks, subagent capabilities, and native multimodal reasoning.
Its trade-offs: smaller context than flagship models, and not for the hardest reasoning. At $0.25 in / $2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.4 Mini overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GPT-5.4 Mini costs less per token; Claude Opus 4.8 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Opus 4.8 for agentic coding and multi-file debugging, GPT-5.4 Mini for free for every chatgpt user. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.4 Mini without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for GPT-5.4 Mini, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 4.8 leans toward agentic coding and multi-file debugging while GPT-5.4 Mini leans toward free for every chatgpt user, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
GPT-5.4 Mini is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $0.25/$2 per 1M tokens, roughly 20× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Opus 4.8 — 1M vs 400K, about 2.5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.4 Mini together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.4 Mini and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
Claude Opus 4.8 — released May 28, 2026, about 2 months after GPT-5.4 Mini.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.