[HN]score: 1.04
Claude Opus 4.8 Launches With 2.5x Fast Mode, 3x Cheaper Than Predecessor
May 28, 2026
Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 with benchmark improvements over 4.7 across coding, agentic tasks, reasoning, and knowledge work, at the same base price. Fast mode now runs at 2.5x speed and costs three times less than fast mode on previous Opus models. Claude Code gains dynamic workflows for large-scale tasks, and claude.ai users can now control per-task effort levels.
HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU
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builderFast mode at 2.5x speed and 3x lower cost than previous Opus fast mode is a direct production cost reduction for latency-sensitive agentic pipelines.
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founderSame price with better benchmarks and a significantly cheaper fast mode changes the cost calculus for products built on Opus-tier capabilities.