Claude Opus 4.8 vs Grok-2

Head-to-head technical comparison of intelligence, capabilities, and API pricing.

Claude Opus 4.8

Anthropic

AI Mastery Index94.6

LMSYS Arena1362

Technical (MMLU-Pro)94.5%

Cost per 1M Tokens$15

Grok-2

xAI

AI Mastery Index84.5

LMSYS Arena1260

Technical (MMLU-Pro)87.5%

Cost per 1M Tokens$5

Architect's Verdict

When comparing Claude Opus 4.8 and Grok-2, Claude Opus 4.8 edges out in overall capabilities according to the AI Mastery Index. However, for cost-sensitive workloads, Grok-2 offers a more economical API at $5 per 1M tokens. Your choice should depend heavily on whether you prioritize raw reasoning (MMLU) or scalable deployment economics.