Model comparison
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
List rate, corouter rate, context, and which ID to send for claude-opus-4-8 versus claude-sonnet-4-6. A sample of 1 million input tokens plus 200 thousand output tokens is about $2.00 on corouter (input $1.00, output $1.00). A sample of 1 million input tokens plus 200 thousand output tokens is about $1.20 on corouter (input $0.600, output $0.600).
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| ID | claude-opus-4-8 | claude-sonnet-4-6 |
| Vendor | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| List input | $5.00 | $3.00 |
| corouter input | $1.00 | $0.600 |
| List output | $25.00 | $15.00 |
| corouter output | $5.00 | $3.00 |
| Cache read | $0.100 | $0.060 |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
Price gap
On output, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is lower: $3.00 on corouter versus $5.00 for Claude Opus 4.8, about 1.67×. Input is $0.600 versus $1.00.
Window and modalities
Both windows are 1M. Claude Opus 4.8 is listed with these modalities: Chat, Vision, Reasoning. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is listed with these modalities: Chat, Vision, Code.
When to send claude-opus-4-8
Claude Opus 4.8 matches the Opus 5 list rate and window, without the Opus 5.5 cache-read cut. Send claude-opus-4-8 to keep an Opus 4.8 client unchanged.
Both are Anthropic IDs. The field you change is model: claude-opus-4-8 or claude-sonnet-4-6.
When to send claude-sonnet-4-6
Claude Sonnet 4.6 keeps the previous Sonnet list rate, above Sonnet 5, with a 1M window and the Code tag. Send claude-sonnet-4-6 when a runbook still names it.
Both are Anthropic IDs. The field you change is model: claude-sonnet-4-6 or claude-opus-4-8.
The same volume, two bills
A sample of 1 million input tokens plus 200 thousand output tokens is about $2.00 on corouter (input $1.00, output $1.00).
A sample of 1 million input tokens plus 200 thousand output tokens is about $1.20 on corouter (input $0.600, output $0.600).
Questions
- Which output rate is lower, Claude Opus 4.8 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
- On output, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is lower: $3.00 on corouter versus $5.00 for Claude Opus 4.8, about 1.67×. Input is $0.600 versus $1.00.
- Is corouter affiliated with the model vendors?
- No. corouter is not affiliated with OpenAI or Anthropic. Vendor names identify the model and the published list rate.
- How do you start billing?
- Create a console account and spend prepaid credits. The minimum top-up is $5. The API base is https://api.corouter.co. Put the ID you chose in the model field.