Muse Spark 1.2 vs Claude Opus 5
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Wins 5 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Math
Claude Opus 5 is the stronger all-rounder.Muse Spark 1.2 is cheaper and better at following instructions.
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.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking05Claude Opus 55 of 5 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software14Claude Opus 54 of 5 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own03Claude Opus 53 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video01Claude Opus 51 of 1 test
- MathCompetition and research-level math01Claude Opus 51 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Muse Spark 1.21 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up11Even1 each · 1 tie
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts00Even0 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 Claude Opus 5 pulls ahead
- Complex command-line tasks across many fieldsTerminal-Bench 4.0+41.9points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+15.5points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+12.3points ahead
Where Muse Spark 1.2 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+27.5points ahead
- Follows detailed instructions exactlyLiveBench · Instruction Following+10.5points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+1points 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 5
- LMArena · WebDevClaude Opus 5 by 160 rating points15321692+160 rating
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Opus 5 by 980.189.1+9
- LiveBench · Agentic CodingClaude Opus 5 by 7.657.665.2+7.6
- LiveBench · CodingClaude Opus 5 by 477.581.5+4
- SciCodeMuse Spark 1.2 by 157.456.4+1
AgentsClaude Opus 5
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Opus 5 by 41.97.149+41.9
- GDPValClaude Opus 5 by 12.348.961.2+12.3
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingClaude Opus 5 by 7.334.842.1+7.3
ReasoningClaude Opus 5
- CritPtClaude Opus 5 by 11.417.729.1+11.4
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 5 by 9.445.554.9+9.4
- SimpleBenchClaude Opus 5 by 6.174.580.6+6.1
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 5 by 2.890.493.2+2.8
- LiveBench · ReasoningClaude Opus 5 by 1.29091.2+1.2
FactsEven
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationMuse Spark 1.2 by 27.566.739.2+27.5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 5 by 15.545.460.9+15.5
- SimpleQA Verifiedtie60.359.9tie
Images and chartsClaude Opus 5
- LMArena · VisionClaude Opus 5 by 16 rating points13051321+16 rating
Following instructionsMuse Spark 1.2
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingMuse Spark 1.2 by 10.574.363.8+10.5
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 5 by 69.51685.5+69.5
- GDPval-AA v2 EloClaude Opus 5 by 196 rating points16281824+196 rating
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 5 by 12.24456.2+12.2
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 5 by 11.239.650.8+11.2
- livebench_languageClaude Opus 5 by 10.178.688.7+10.1
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 5 by 9.927.237.1+9.9
- DeepSWE 1.1Claude Opus 5 by 9.559.368.8+9.5
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 5 by 5.872.278+5.8
- livebench_data_analysisMuse Spark 1.2 by 1.976.574.5+1.9
Questions people ask
Which is better, Muse Spark 1.2 or Claude Opus 5?
Claude Opus 5 wins five of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts and math. Muse Spark 1.2 wins following instructions, and costs 82% less. They are level on facts and long documents.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 5. It wins 4 of the 5 coding tests both models report; Muse Spark 1.2 wins 1.
Which is cheaper?
Muse Spark 1.2 costs $1.25 per million input tokens and $4.25 per million output tokens; Claude Opus 5 costs $5.00 and $25.00. 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.