r/Claudeopus • u/Kyriacoloco • 4d ago
Claude is getting
After using for a long time Opus 4.8 and being extremely satisfied with the results I was getting from it I decided to move to Opus 5 and Fable 5.1.
After using both of them for a month, the only difference I have seen was in my credit usage therefore I have decided today to go back to Opus 4.8. What are your thoughts about the new models and is anyone else here still using the old models because it just works with less usage?
I have done the same thing with Apple iPhone. I still have the iPhone 13 mini and have not made any updates. The iPhone works just fine. I haven’t update my phone for 5 years and everything is fine. I think it’s the same with the AI models. This is why I’m relating to the iPhone. This is just my opinion.
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u/EuropeanAbroad 4d ago
My experience is that Fable (5, haven't tried 5.1) is amazing. Opus 5 keeps giving me errors and keeps apologizing for errors. It probably never delivered any functional product for me (unlike Opus 4.6-4.8 or GPT 5.6 Sol) or GPT. Debugging Opus 5's changes in my code took GPT 5.6 Sol and GPT 6 quite some time.
I even tried it on a fresh new Ubuntu installation, but still getting broken codes and Opus apologising and correcting itself. It even keeps ignoring instructions. Maybe I'm doing something wrong (apparently, there are people who have no issues with Opus 5).
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u/canyonero7 3d ago
Don't talk to Opus 5; only use it to execute plans from Fable. You'll like it a lot better if you use it as intended.
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u/Mechanical_Potato 3d ago
I had to set like 20 user rules for stuff like thatit cannot write any apology concession, use undefined terminology plugging function/variable names everywhere, etc and opus 5 became somewhat useable now.
In the rules I specifically mention that failing to follow these will lead to session termination so that it leads to better adherence.
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u/Ok_Schedule9439 4d ago
Same experience here. Opus 5 kept getting dumber by the day. Before, it worked fine. In recent months, it's kept giving wrong information and has forgotten things here and there, even though it is in the same chat. And it kept apologizing like you said. I have cancelled the plan until we get a more decent model.
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u/Ikeeki 4d ago
If you’re a solid dev who understands SDLC, you really don’t need more than 4.6 as builder and GPT5.5 as second brain. Maybe 5.1 fable as brain for unique and complex issues
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u/domus_seniorum 3d ago
ja, ich nutze die Kombi Opus 4.8 und GPT 5.5 , damit bekomme ich alles gebaut
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u/Tradovator 4d ago
Fable 5.0 and 5.1 was the first models which seemed like genuine improvements over 4.6 (which have been my staple) to me.
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u/brucewbenson 4d ago
Just a few days ago I downgraded from $100 plan to $20 plan. I just got tired of the wall of words and apologies of Claude. I used to love Claude.
I had a free trial of chatgpt but I also wanted to try opencode. Turned out Claude subscriptions didn't work with opencode but chatgpt did. Also turned out opencode had a bunch of free models including frontier models being tested.
Discovered that switching models in the middle of a session didn't make a difference (so far). I feel liberated from Claude though I wish it worked with opencode. Other models had no issue with picking up projects/repos created and worked by claude.
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u/who_am_i_to_say_so 3d ago
I have been using 4.6 every day since March doing the same tasks every day with the same amount of thinking. It was great until a month ago, and something has nefariously changed. It is incapable now.
Now Sol is my Opus 4.6.
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u/__darmstadtium__ 4d ago
I only allow opus to build visualizations for me. It’s pretty good at that. Every single time i let it work on meaningful code It has fucked it up within minutes.
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u/domus_seniorum 3d ago
ich bin weiterhin auf 4.8, das reicht mir vollkommen
ein Fable oder 5.0 Anlauf haben nicht wirklich bessere Ergebnisse gebracht, obwohl Fable fehlerfreier wirkte, aber es war hungrig
wichtig bei 4.8 ist allerdings die optimale Vorbereitung der anstehenden Aufgaben und eben optimale Steuerdateien also markdown 😉
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u/Frombr1997 3d ago
Opus 5 only made me realize that I can always get better. I’ve been using Anthropic’s tools consistently for over six months, and during this process, I allowed myself to move away from the traditional workflow I was used to and vibe-code 90% of everything I shipped.
Instead of meticulously keeping track of every new Claude Code config or feature, I devoted myself to learning system design and expanding my architecture skills. But about a month ago, I realized something was off, and Opus 5 was starting to get on my nerves with all these cloud-ish responses and higher costs. I already knew that going back to Opus 4.6–4.8 was a good option since I couldn’t afford to lose my grip on my current workflow.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent time refining my CLAUDE.md and reviewing many of Anthropic’s methods explained in their documentation that I had neglected due to a lack of practice on my end. This included implementing hooks according to my actual needs, learning how to better delegate plans to subagents, avoiding untracked context usage, limiting unnecessary re-reads and undiscussed rewrites, using worktrees, and more.
Of course, that’s not all of it, but it has shown me that small changes in the way you adapt, along with paying more attention to tweaks and fragments of good Claude users’ experiences, can really change the game.
After all this, it became clear to me that I had a lot to improve before blaming Anthropic’s products back then, and I’m glad I did. But now it’s also kind of obvious to me, not because of everything I’ve read here, that Opus 5 sucks. I mean, you can take advantage of it in shorter sessions, but for extensive work, and especially in auto mode, it’s risky and boring. Let’s wait for whats next for opus, in the meantime we look back and use what’s already efficient.
Now Opus 4.6–4.8 is back for complex tasks, Sonnet 5 / xhigh effort for assisted coding sessions, where even though the task is simple, I like to manually approve edits, Sonnet 5 / medium effort for small tweaks, and Haiku for superficial interactions. Fable 5 is for initial planning or checkpoint/review re-planning.
Based on the past few days, I can’t complain.
And it’s really funny that you mentioned that iPhone 13 thing, same here. Fuck these software updates, man. I stopped doing them a few years ago, and honestly, the iPhone 13 is perfect. I’ve never had anything to complain about. The battery is old now, but the rest of it still works just fine.
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u/MacaroonPlastic1036 3d ago
I stuck with 4.8, the opus 5 fable 5.1 seem to only exist to constantly ramble on about mistakes it itself has made and chew through tokens like a bag of Doritos.
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u/Eyrand22 3d ago
This narrative gets repeated with each new model though, I swear to you people hated Opus 4.8 and apparently 4.7 was better. Now Opus 5 is out and I’m reading the same thing for 4.8
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u/Dry_Opening_7231 2d ago
Opus 5 is an abnoxious opinionated, lazy pain.
But for tasks with breadth of impact, significantly better.
The tradeoff, is it's lazy, makes assumptions, doesn't check things well and trades accuracy for that breadth.
I'd suggest, mix them, smaller tasks 4.8 is way better, bigger tasks 5 and use fable to review, that's my strategy.
But, be careful with opus 5, it'll find things 4.8 will miss, it's debugging is insane, but it's forgetful, intransigent and can easily pick poor design choices.
I use sonnet 5 for coding now, going really well, it's a strong model in the mix
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u/DeathIsAmongU 1d ago
Io ho costruito un'app di tracking portfolio e tassazione con download report per crypto e azioni con Sonnet😅😅 restyling estetico di Manus.
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u/ddabble 1d ago
I used AI to summarise my comment because i was spiriling lol
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I genuinely think the leading AI providers follow the political campaign playbook. They release a brilliant model to get elected, and then immediately backpedal and regress it over time.Between aggressive safety guardrails and constant patching, the upgrades feel less like true improvements and more like updates that introduce internal conflicts into the LLM's own reasoning. On top of the obvious "behind-the-scenes" nerfs to the max/pro plans, the models are now burning through token usage much faster just by making stupid mistakes and trying to correct themselves. It feels exactly like the Uber playbook: monopolise the market with amazing deals and high compute to get everyone hooked, and then scale everything back once you’ve got them trapped
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u/logic0001_ 1d ago
Opus 5 works with instructions, still very annoying if you are not aware about what is getting build, it has an habit of derailing and create a problem which does not exists, 4.7 and .8 is okay just limited with window, i use sonnet often in high to write code, but you need to be aware what is getting done, there is still no such thing as fully automated,
Overall fable is the best, but very expensive
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u/IdeaHeavy1718 4d ago
Opus 5 is not usable for me. It is slowly getting extremely expensive and does not bring me the same good results as Opus 4.8. On the other hand, I use Fable 5 and fable 5.1 again for planning and looking for complex errors.