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Debug a hard problem
Track down a subtle, multi-file bug.
Recommended strength: strongMedium confidence
Recommended
Claude
Claude Opus 4.8
maximum
Best value
Claude
Claude Sonnet 5
strong
Lowest cost
OpenAI API
GPT-5
strong
Premium
Claude
Claude Opus 4.8
maximum
Expected budget
Estimated tokens
2M – 20M
Expected duration
~4h
Why
Hard debugging rewards stronger reasoning. Spending more per token on a Maximum model often costs less overall than many cheap failed attempts.
When to upgrade
Start at Maximum for genuinely stuck, multi-file bugs.
When a cheaper model is fine
Use Standard once the root cause is understood and you are just applying the fix.
Methodology rec-v0.1 · Last reviewed 2026-07-01. This is editorial guidance, not a definitive ranking. See how we make recommendations.