Claude Opus 4.8 vs Muse Spark 1.2
Wins 3 of 8 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Math
Wins 4 of 8 areas
Facts · Images and charts · Long documents · Following instructions
Muse Spark 1.2 wins more areas, narrowly.Claude Opus 4.8 is better at reasoning.
Scores updated · 29 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.
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12Muse Spark 1.22 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video01Muse Spark 1.21 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01Muse Spark 1.21 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01Muse Spark 1.21 of 1 test
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking31Claude Opus 4.83 of 5 tests · 1 tie
- CodingWriting and fixing software32Claude Opus 4.83 of 5 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math10Claude Opus 4.81 of 1 test
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own11Even1 each · 1 tie
Images and charts, 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 1.2 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 Muse Spark 1.2 pulls ahead
- Common-sense trick questionsSimpleBench+9.7points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+7.3points ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues, working as an agentLiveBench · Agentic Coding+7.1points ahead
Where Claude Opus 4.8 pulls ahead
- Complex command-line tasks across many fieldsTerminal-Bench 4.0+14.6points ahead
- Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+4.5points ahead
- Programming problems, refreshed regularlyLiveBench · Coding+4.3points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 29 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 1.2 by 7.150.557.6+7.1
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Opus 4.8 by 4.584.680.1+4.5
- LiveBench · CodingClaude Opus 4.8 by 4.381.877.5+4.3
- SciCodeMuse Spark 1.2 by 354.457.4+3
- LMArena · WebDevClaude Opus 4.8 by 24 rating points15561532+24 rating
AgentsEven
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Opus 4.8 by 14.621.77.1+14.6
- GDPValMuse Spark 1.2 by 1.147.848.9+1.1
- τ-Bench V3 · Bankingtie34.234.8tie
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.8
- SimpleBenchMuse Spark 1.2 by 9.764.874.5+9.7
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.8 by 3.220.917.7+3.2
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.8 by 3.248.745.5+3.2
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.8 by 1.69290.4+1.6
- LiveBench · Reasoningtie89.290tie
FactsMuse Spark 1.2
- SimpleQA VerifiedMuse Spark 1.2 by 7.35360.3+7.3
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationMuse Spark 1.2 by 660.766.7+6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 4.8 by 3.448.845.4+3.4
Images and chartsMuse Spark 1.2
- LMArena · VisionMuse Spark 1.2 by 10 rating points12951305+10 rating
Following instructionsMuse Spark 1.2
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingMuse Spark 1.2 by 2.37274.3+2.3
Other results9 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.
- GDP (Surge AI)Claude Opus 4.8 by 68.884.816+68.8
- livebench_data_analysisMuse Spark 1.2 by 10.56676.5+10.5
- GDPval-AA v2 EloMuse Spark 1.2 by 35 rating points15931628+35 rating
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.241.839.6+2.2
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.8 by 2.174.372.2+2.1
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 4.8 by 1.628.827.2+1.6
- AA Agentic IndexMuse Spark 1.2 by 1.442.644+1.4
- livebench_languageClaude Opus 4.8 by 1.179.778.6+1.1
- DeepSWE 1.1tie5959.3tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.8 or Muse Spark 1.2?
Muse Spark 1.2 wins four of the eight areas we test: facts, images and charts, long documents and following instructions. Claude Opus 4.8 wins coding, reasoning and math. They are level on agents.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.8. It wins 3 of the 5 coding tests both models report; Muse Spark 1.2 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 1.2 costs $1.25 and $4.25. That makes Muse Spark 1.2 about 82% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 29 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 20 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 9 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.