Claude Opus 4.8 Is Now Available on Buda
Claude Opus 4.8 is now available on Buda as a subscription-only premium model for demanding agent work.
Claude Opus 4.8 is now available in Buda.
It sits in the premium tier: strong, expensive, and reserved for spaces with an active subscription.
What's New
Buda now includes Claude Opus 4.8 in the model selector.
Like the previous Opus releases, Opus 4.8 is for work where the cost of a weak answer is higher than the cost of the model call. Hard debugging. Repository-scale reasoning. Architecture review. Long planning loops. Final judgment before a human signs off.
This is not the model to use for every turn. It is the model to route into when the task needs stronger judgment.
Subscription Required
Claude Opus 4.8 is a subscription-only model on Buda.
Free spaces can still use the broad free model set, including Claude Sonnet 4.6, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.3 Codex, Gemini, DeepSeek, and faster execution models. Opus stays behind the subscription gate because its cost profile is different.
That split keeps the model system simple:
| Tier | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Free models | everyday chat, drafts, routing, triage, lightweight coding |
| Paid plan models | higher-volume or more advanced team workflows |
| Subscription-only Opus | difficult work where the answer quality matters most |
Credits still do the metering. Subscription decides whether the model can be selected.
Credit Multiplier
Claude Opus 4.8 uses the same Opus pricing profile as the recent Opus line in Buda.
| Model | Credits | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 1.0x | Free |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 1.7x | Subscription |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 1.7x | Subscription |
Use Sonnet for steady work. Use Opus when the task needs a deeper pass.
Where Opus 4.8 Fits
Opus 4.8 is useful when an agent needs to hold more constraints in its head and make fewer sloppy tradeoffs.
- Review a large diff before it reaches production.
- Diagnose a bug that spans frontend, API, and data layers.
- Plan a migration where rollback matters.
- Turn scattered requirements into a clear implementation path.
- Do the final pass on important customer-facing work.
The pattern is straightforward: let faster models do the execution layer, then bring Opus in for the heavy judgment layer.
A Model Router, Not a Trophy Case
The best Buda workflows do not ask one model to do everything.
Use cheaper models for repeated steps. Use balanced models for everyday agent work. Use Claude Opus 4.8 when the next decision is expensive to get wrong.
That keeps humans in the manager seat: set direction, review judgment, and decide what ships.
Try Claude Opus 4.8 in Buda at buda.im/dashboard.