Claude Opus 4.8 vs DeepSeek V4
Anthropic's flagship against DeepSeek's open-weight flagship (v4-pro · v4-flash) — published pricing, context windows and specs, side by side.
Claude Opus 4.8 vs DeepSeek V4: side-by-side
| Claude Opus 4.8 | DeepSeek V4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Released | 27 May 2026 | 24 April 2026 |
| Tier | Flagship | Open-weight flagship (V4-Pro · V4-Flash) |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (both tiers) |
| Max output | Up to 128,000 tokens | Not specified |
| API price (per 1M) | $5 / $25 per 1M tokens | $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M |
| Access | Proprietary — Claude API & claude.ai | Open weights — MIT licence, on Hugging Face & ModelScope (V4-Pro 1.6T params / 49B active; V4-Flash 284B / 13B active) |
| Best at | Long-horizon agentic work, coding, knowledge work | Coding, competitive programming, low-cost agentic work |
| Standout | Current Opus flagship — same $5/$25 rate card as Opus 4.7, adaptive thinking, controllable effort levels | Largest open-weights model of 2026 — MIT-licensed 1.6T-param MoE |
Price comparison
| Model | Input (per 1M) | Output (per 1M) |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.8 | $5.00 | $25.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 (fast mode) | $10.00 | $50.00 |
| DeepSeek V4-Flash | $0.14 | $0.28 |
| DeepSeek V4-Pro | $1.74 | $3.48 |
Published benchmark figures
Each figure below is the model's own published score as listed on its AI Model Hub page. Different suites (and suite versions) are not directly comparable.
| Model | Benchmark | Published score |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 | SWE-bench Verified | 80.6% |
| DeepSeek V4 | Codeforces rating | 3,206 |
What the table says
- Pricing. Claude Opus 4.8 lists at $5 / $25 per 1M tokens; DeepSeek V4 lists at $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M. On these published rates, DeepSeek V4's input price is 2.9x lower than Claude Opus 4.8's, and DeepSeek V4's output price is 7.2x lower than Claude Opus 4.8's. Claude Opus 4.8 also offers a fast mode at $10 / $50 per 1M tokens with up to 2.5x output speed. DeepSeek V4-Flash lists even lower, at $0.14 / $0.28 per 1M tokens.
- Context. Both are in the same context class: Claude Opus 4.8 lists 1,000,000 tokens and DeepSeek V4 lists 1,000,000 tokens (both tiers).
- Access. DeepSeek V4 publishes open weights (MIT licence), so it can be self-hosted; Claude Opus 4.8 is proprietary and available only through hosted APIs and apps.
- Benchmarks. The two model pages report results on different benchmark suites, so the published scores are not directly comparable head-to-head; the tables below list each model's own published figures.
Key takeaway
Everything above is drawn from the two models' published rate cards and spec sheets. Which one fits depends on the workload you price it against — run your own token volumes through the pricing calculator to see the monthly difference.
Full Claude Opus 4.8 overview Full DeepSeek V4 overview
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.8 or DeepSeek V4?
DeepSeek V4 — it lists at $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M versus $5 / $25 per 1M tokens for Claude Opus 4.8.
Which has the bigger context window, Claude Opus 4.8 or DeepSeek V4?
They are in the same class: Claude Opus 4.8 lists 1,000,000 tokens and DeepSeek V4 lists 1,000,000 tokens (both tiers).
Which model is newer?
Claude Opus 4.8 is the more recent release (27 May 2026); DeepSeek V4 was released 24 April 2026.
Can I run Claude Opus 4.8 or DeepSeek V4 locally?
Only DeepSeek V4 — it publishes open weights under the MIT licence. Claude Opus 4.8 is proprietary and only available via hosted APIs and apps.
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