Claude 3 Opus was Anthropic’s flagship reasoning model, released March 4, 2024, designed for complex tasks requiring deep analysis and long-context understanding. Originally priced at $15/million input tokens and $75/million output via API, it was available on Claude.ai Pro and through AWS/Google Cloud. As of January 2026, Claude 3 Opus is deprecated and scheduled for full retirement on January 5, 2026—users should migrate to Claude Opus 4.1 for continued support.
What is Claude 3 Opus?
Claude 3 Opus represented the flagship tier of Anthropic’s original Claude 3 family, optimized for maximum reasoning capability over speed or cost. The model excelled at graduate-level analysis, nuanced writing, complex problem-solving, and multi-step reasoning tasks where accuracy mattered more than latency.
Built on constitutional AI principles, Claude 3 Opus maintained a 200K token context window, allowing it to process entire codebases, long research papers, or comprehensive documents in single interactions. For the ~18 months it was available (March 2024-January 2026), it was the go-to choice for organizations requiring frontier-level intelligence without compromise. However, it has been superseded by Claude Opus 4.1, which is more capable and remains actively supported.
Claude 3 Family Comparison Chart (Historical + Current)
To understand Claude 3 Opus’s place in Anthropic’s history, here’s how it compared to other Claude 3 models at launch (March 2024). Below is the original Claude 3 family lineup, followed by today’s current models:
Claude 3 Family (March 2024 – January 2026)
| Feature | Claude 3 Haiku | Claude 3 Sonnet | Claude 3 Opus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fastest (1-2s) | Balanced (2-4s) | Slower (3-5s) |
| Cost | $0.25/$1.25 per M | $3/$15 per M | $15/$75 per M |
| Context Window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Quick queries | Most use cases | Complex reasoning |
| GPQA (Reasoning) | ~76% | ~87% | ~90%+ |
| HumanEval (Coding) | Good | 64% | Strongest |
| Status | Deprecated | Retired Jul 2025 | Retiring Jan 2026 |
Current Claude Lineup (January 2026)
To see where Claude 3 Opus fits historically, compare it to today’s active models:
| Feature | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Claude Sonnet 4 | Claude Opus 4.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fastest (~instant) | Balanced (2-4s) | Slower (3-5s) |
| Cost | $1/$5 per M | $3/$15 per M | Higher pricing |
| Context Window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens | Expanded |
| Best For | Real-time chat | General purpose | Complex reasoning |
| SWE-bench (Coding) | 73.3% | ~49% | Frontier-level |
| Status | Active (released Oct 2025) | Active (released May 2025) | Active (released Aug 2025) |
| Replaces | Claude 3 Haiku | Claude 3 Sonnet | Claude 3 Opus |
Key insight: Claude 3 Opus was the most capable Claude 3 model, but has been replaced by Claude Opus 4.1, which is more intelligent and still actively supported. If you’re considering migrating from Claude 3 Opus, upgrade to Claude Opus 4.1.
Key Features of Claude 3 Opus
⚠️ DEPRECATION NOTICE: Claude 3 Opus is no longer actively maintained. As of June 30, 2025, it’s in deprecation status and will be fully retired on January 5, 2026. For new projects requiring deep reasoning, use Claude Opus 4.1 instead.
Maximum Reasoning Power Opus excelled at problems requiring sophisticated analysis, multi-step logic, and nuanced understanding. Graduate-level reasoning benchmarks showed Opus at 90%+, significantly outperforming Haiku and Sonnet. This made it ideal for research, strategy, financial analysis, and complex debugging—at the time.
Extended Context Handling The 200K token context window lets you feed Claude entire codebases (50K+ lines), research papers, legal documents, or project specifications. Opus maintains coherence and accuracy across these long inputs without degradation, a critical advantage for enterprise use.
Superior Writing Quality Opus produces exceptional long-form content—essays, reports, whitepapers, code documentation. The model grasps nuance, tone, and contextual flow better than lighter versions, excelling when writing quality directly impacts business value.
Advanced Vision Analysis While Claude 3.5 Sonnet has become the vision leader, Opus still performs well on visual reasoning, chart interpretation, and diagram understanding. For tasks requiring both vision and deep reasoning, Opus combines both strengths.
Claude 3 Opus Pricing & API Costs (Historical)
Original API Pricing (no longer available):
- Input: $15/M tokens
- Output: $75/M tokens
Real-world example: A 10K token input + 2K token output cost ~$0.195 (~20 cents). For production applications processing large documents repeatedly, costs accumulated quickly—Opus was enterprise-grade pricing.
Access Methods (Now Unavailable):
- Claude.ai Pro: Claude 3 Opus access has been removed
- Anthropic API: Model will be fully deprecated by January 5, 2026
- Amazon Bedrock: Claude 3 Opus endpoint being phased out
- Google Vertex AI: Claude 3 Opus endpoint being phased out
Current alternative: To access similar reasoning capability, migrate to Claude Opus 4.1 through the same platforms (Claude.ai Pro, Anthropic API, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI).
Claude 3 Opus vs. Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Historical Comparison)
When Claude 3 Opus launched in March 2024, many teams asked: why choose Opus when Claude 3.5 Sonnet exists? At the time, the answer depended on priorities. Now that both are deprecated, this comparison is historical reference only.
Claude 3 Opus offered (in 2024):
- Maximum reasoning for complex analysis
- Better long-context understanding
- Graduate-level problem solving
- 5x more expensive than Sonnet
- Slower response times
Claude 3.5 Sonnet offered:
- Excellent performance at lower cost (5x cheaper)
- Faster responses (2x speed)
- Superior vision capabilities
- Better value-for-money model
- Best for most production applications
Today’s equivalent comparison: If you were choosing between Claude 3 Opus and 3.5 Sonnet in 2024, you should now choose between Claude Opus 4.1 (most powerful) and Claude Sonnet 4 (best value). Both are actively maintained and recommended.
Use Cases for Claude 3 Opus
Research & Analysis Process multiple research papers, synthesize findings, identify gaps, and generate novel insights. Opus’s reasoning depth makes it ideal for literature reviews, market analysis, and competitive intelligence.
Complex Code Debugging When a bug is subtle and spans multiple files, Opus can analyze entire codebases, understand context, and suggest sophisticated fixes. Its reasoning power catches edge cases other models miss.
Strategic Planning Generate comprehensive business strategies, financial models, or product roadmaps. Opus’s ability to weigh multiple factors and think several steps ahead makes it valuable for strategic decisions.
Long Document Processing Summarize lengthy contracts, analyze regulatory documents, or extract insights from research compilations. The 200K context window means you don’t need to chunk documents—feed the whole thing at once.
High-Stakes Writing When the writing quality directly impacts business (proposal documents, executive summaries, research papers), Opus produces polished output that requires minimal editing.
How to Access Claude 3 Opus (Deprecated)
Claude.ai (No longer available) Claude 3 Opus has been removed from Claude.ai. Claude Pro ($20/month) now defaults to Claude Sonnet 4, with Claude Opus 4.1 available for Pro/Max subscribers. Free access uses Claude Sonnet 4.
Anthropic API (Sunsetting) Claude 3 Opus remains available via API through January 5, 2026, but it’s no longer recommended for new projects. Existing deployments should migrate to Claude Opus 4.1 using the same API with model identifier changes.
Amazon Bedrock (Migration required) Claude 3 Opus endpoints are being phased out. Switch to Claude Opus 4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4 for continued support.
Google Vertex AI (Migration required) Claude 3 Opus access is being discontinued. Migrate to Claude Opus 4.1 (for maximum reasoning) or Claude Sonnet 4 (for general purpose).
Migration instructions: If you have Claude 3 Opus integrated into production, contact Anthropic support or your cloud provider to switch to Claude Opus 4.1 before January 5, 2026, retirement date.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Claude 3 Opus released? March 4, 2024, as part of the original Claude 3 family launch.
What’s the difference between Claude 3 Opus and Claude 3.5 Sonnet? Opus has stronger reasoning (~90% vs ~87% GPQA). 3.5 Sonnet is faster and cheaper. Choose Opus for maximum capability, Sonnet for value.
Is Claude 3 Opus still worth using in 2026? Yes, if reasoning power matters more than cost. But for most teams, 3.5 Sonnet offers better value. Consider your specific use case.
How much does Claude 3 Opus cost? $15 per million input tokens, $75 per million output tokens via API. $20/month for unlimited Pro access on Claude.ai.
Can I use Claude 3 Opus offline? No. Opus requires API access or Claude.ai subscription. There’s no local deployment option.
How does Opus compare to GPT-4? On reasoning benchmarks, they’re competitive. Opus has better pricing and context window than GPT-4 Turbo. GPT-4o (newer) is faster and cheaper overall.
Should I switch from Sonnet to Opus? Only if your tasks consistently require deeper reasoning. For most applications, Sonnet delivers better ROI.
Final Verdict & Migration Guide
Claude 3 Opus remains Anthropic’s most capable model of the original Claude 3 family, ideal for teams where reasoning depth justified the 5x cost premium over Sonnet. It was the choice for research institutions, financial firms, and high-stakes analysis. For everyone else, Claude 3.5 Sonnet offered better value without meaningful capability loss for typical tasks.
However, Claude 3 Opus is now deprecated and will be fully retired on January 5, 2026.
If you’re currently using Claude 3 Opus, migrate to:
- Claude Opus 4.1 (August 2025): The direct successor, more capable, actively supported indefinitely. Best for complex reasoning, research, advanced coding.
- Claude Sonnet 4 (May 2025): If cost matters, the new default model with 80% of Opus capability at 20% of the price.
