text model comparison
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Gemini 3.5 Flash
Claude Opus 4.8 and Gemini 3.5 Flash are both current text models, from Anthropic and Google. On Arena Text, Claude Opus 4.8 scores 1481 Elo and Gemini 3.5 Flash 1478 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026). Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).
Data verified October 12, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-12
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Opus 4.8 | Gemini 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $5 | Not reported |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $25 | Not reported |
| Arena Text | 1481 Elo (#15 of 39) (better) | 1478 Elo (#16 of 39) |
| GPQA Diamond | 91% (#20 of 37) | 92.8% (#16 of 37) (better) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 80% (#13 of 37) (better) | 62.8% (#25 of 37) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 53% (#17 of 34) | 66.2% (#11 of 34) (better) |
| LiveBench Overall | 78.93 points (#2 of 5) (better) | 74.64 points (#5 of 5) |
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Release date | May 28, 2026 | May 19, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | Not reported | 65,536 tokens |
| Input | text | text, image, audio, video |
| Output | text | text |
Scores:Arena · 2026-10-12Epoch AI · 2026-10-12LiveBench · 2026-06-25
When to choose each
Claude Opus 4.8
Best for
- Long-running agentic and professional-work evaluations
Watch out for
- Maximum output length is not represented because the approved source set does not establish one unambiguously
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Best for
- Long-context multimodal and agentic evaluations
Watch out for
- Exact current token prices are not represented because the approved source set does not establish a single untiered rate
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Gemini 3.5 Flash FAQ
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Opus 4.8 or Gemini 3.5 Flash?
Claude Opus 4.8 leads on Arena Text, 1481 Elo to 1478 Elo; Gemini 3.5 Flash leads on GPQA Diamond, 92.8% to 91%; Claude Opus 4.8 leads on FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2), 80% to 62.8%. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Opus 4.8 or Gemini 3.5 Flash?
Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).
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- Gemini 3.5 Flash vs GPT-5.5
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Opus 4.8 and Gemini 3.5 Flash?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty