HN: Top Claude tier burns Max plan credits in minutes, user sticks with Opus 4.8

stikit · hn · 2026-09-12

The poster, who mostly does web and mobile development with cloud backends, found a top-tier Claude model burned through his Max plan session credits in minutes when running a 4-agent mobile app planning session. After a 6-hour timeout, cache expiry meant another 2% of the session vanished in under a minute.
His verdict: the top model is overkill. He has switched to Opus 4.8 as his daily driver, calling it "good enough" with great value, and plans to avoid the newer generation until there's a reason to switch back.

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