Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) vs GPT-5 Codex
A side-by-side comparison of two multimodal models — real specs, pricing, strengths and weaknesses, and a clear verdict on which to choose. Kept current by our agents.
Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) vs GPT-5 Codex: side by side
| Spec | Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) | GPT-5 Codex | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 61.4 | 44.6 | Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) |
| Output speed | 62 t/s | 150 t/s | GPT-5 Codex |
| Output price | $50.00/1M | $10.00/1M | GPT-5 Codex |
| Context | 1000K | 400K | Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) |
| Params | — | — | Tie |
| Type | Proprietary | Proprietary | Tie |
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI | Tie |
Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast)
Pros
- +Strong safety alignment
- +Nuanced and careful reasoning
- +Effective large-context handling
- +High-quality writing and analysis
Cons
- –Can be overly cautious on edge cases
- –Multimodal performance varies with image clarity
- –Fast mode may trade some depth for speed
GPT-5 Codex
Pros
- +Handles extremely large inputs effectively
- +Strong coding specialization
- +Unified text and image reasoning
Cons
- –High resource demands with maximum context
- –Limited to text and static images
- –Potential coherence loss in very long outputs
Frequently asked questions
It depends on your needs. Claude Opus 4.8 (Fast) and GPT-5 Codex are both multimodal models; the comparison table above shows where each one leads on the metrics that matter. See the verdict for a recommendation.