Claude Opus 4.8 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025
Wins 7 of 7 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 0 of 7 areas
—
Claude Opus 4.8 is the stronger all-rounder.Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 is cheaper.
Scores updated · 16 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the seven areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking30Claude Opus 4.83 of 3 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software20Claude Opus 4.82 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20Claude Opus 4.82 of 2 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
Agents, images and charts, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 costs 98% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 4.8 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+48.5points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+45.4points ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+41.7points ahead
Where Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 16 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 4.8
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Opus 4.8 by 45.458.312.9+45.4
- SciCodeClaude Opus 4.8 by 25.754.428.7+25.7
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.8
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.8 by 41.748.77+41.7
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.8 by 21.19270.9+21.1
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.8 by 20.920.90+20.9
FactsClaude Opus 4.8
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Opus 4.8 by 48.560.712.2+48.5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 4.8 by 30.848.818+30.8
Images and chartsClaude Opus 4.8
- LMArena · VisionClaude Opus 4.8 by 97 rating points12951198+97 rating
Following instructionsClaude Opus 4.8
- IFBenchClaude Opus 4.8 by 9.662.252.6+9.6
Other results5 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 4.8 by 82.828.8-54+82.8
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Opus 4.8 by 63.794.430.7+63.7
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.8 by 52.274.322.1+52.2
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.8 by 31.441.810.4+31.4
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 4.8 by 19.642.623+19.6
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.8 or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025?
Claude Opus 4.8 wins all seven areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, long documents and following instructions. Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 wins none, but costs 98% less.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.8. It wins 2 of the 2 coding tests both models report; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Opus 4.8 costs $5.00 per million input tokens and $25.00 per million output tokens; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 costs $0.10 and $0.40. That makes Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025 about 98% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 16 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 11 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 5 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.