Claude Opus 4.8 vs Muse Spark 1.1
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Math · Following instructions
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Facts
Claude Opus 4.8 is the stronger all-rounder.Muse Spark 1.1 is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 42 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. 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 thinking40Claude Opus 4.84 of 4 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own41Claude Opus 4.84 of 5 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software42Claude Opus 4.84 of 6 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video10Claude Opus 4.81 of 2 tests · 1 tie
- MathCompetition and research-level math10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12Muse Spark 1.12 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts00Even0 each · 1 tie
Math, 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.
Muse Spark 1.1 costs 82% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 4.8 pulls ahead
- Complex command-line tasks across many fieldsTerminal-Bench 4.0+15.6points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+12.1points ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+10.7points ahead
Where Muse Spark 1.1 pulls ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues, working as an agentLiveBench · Agentic Coding+8points ahead
- Multi-step tasks using many real software toolsMCP Atlas+5.9points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+4.8points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 42 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 4.8
- LiveBench · Agentic CodingMuse Spark 1.1 by 850.558.5+8
- SWE-bench ProClaude Opus 4.8 by 7.769.261.5+7.7
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Opus 4.8 by 6.784.677.9+6.7
- LiveBench · CodingClaude Opus 4.8 by 4.681.877.2+4.6
- SciCodeMuse Spark 1.1 by 4.454.458.8+4.4
- LMArena · WebDevClaude Opus 4.8 by 14 rating points15561542+14 rating
AgentsClaude Opus 4.8
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Opus 4.8 by 15.621.76.1+15.6
- GDPValClaude Opus 4.8 by 12.147.835.7+12.1
- MCP AtlasMuse Spark 1.1 by 5.982.288.1+5.9
- OSWorld-VerifiedClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.683.480.8+2.6
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.434.231.8+2.4
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.8
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.8 by 5.820.915.1+5.8
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.548.746.2+2.5
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.29289.8+2.2
- LiveBench · ReasoningClaude Opus 4.8 by 1.589.287.7+1.5
FactsMuse Spark 1.1
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Opus 4.8 by 10.760.750+10.7
- SimpleQA VerifiedMuse Spark 1.1 by 4.85357.8+4.8
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyMuse Spark 1.1 by 3.348.852+3.3
Images and chartsClaude Opus 4.8
- CharXiv (RQ)Claude Opus 4.8 by 1.589.988.4+1.5
- LMArena · Visiontie12951294tie
Following instructionsClaude Opus 4.8
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.47269.6+2.4
Other results19 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.
- GDPval-AA v2 EloClaude Opus 4.8 by 212 rating points15931381+212 rating
- CyberGymClaude Opus 4.8 by 19.878.859+19.8
- ToolathlonMuse Spark 1.1 by 15.759.975.6+15.7
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 4.8 by 15.142.627.5+15.1
- DeepSearchQA (F1)Claude Opus 4.8 by 8.293.184.9+8.2
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.8 by 8.141.833.7+8.1
- AIRS-BenchClaude Opus 4.8 by 78477+7
- livebench_data_analysisMuse Spark 1.1 by 6.66672.5+6.6
- JobBenchMuse Spark 1.1 by 6.348.454.7+6.3
- DeepSWE 1.1Claude Opus 4.8 by 65953+6
- livebench_languageClaude Opus 4.8 by 5.479.774.3+5.4
- Toolathlon VerifiedClaude Opus 4.8 by 4.379.975.6+4.3
- HealthBench ProfessionalMuse Spark 1.1 by 3.555.859.3+3.5
- Finance Agent v2Muse Spark 1.1 by 3.353.957.2+3.3
- HLE CalibrationClaude Opus 4.8 by 3.126.523.4+3.1
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.8 by 374.371.3+3
- CharXiv Reasoning (With tools)Claude Opus 4.8 by 1.589.988.4+1.5
- OR-Bench (FRR)Muse Spark 1.1 by 1.53.34.8+1.5
- AA-Omnisciencetie28.828.1tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.8 or Muse Spark 1.1?
Claude Opus 4.8 wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts, math and following instructions. Muse Spark 1.1 wins facts, and costs 82% less. They are level on long documents.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.8. It wins 4 of the 6 coding tests both models report; Muse Spark 1.1 wins 2.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Opus 4.8 costs $5.00 per million input tokens and $25.00 per million output tokens; Muse Spark 1.1 costs $1.25 and $4.25. That makes Muse Spark 1.1 about 82% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 42 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 23 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 19 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.