← All tasks
Refactor a large codebase
Restructure a big codebase safely.
Recommended strength: maximumMedium confidence
Recommended
Claude Code
Claude Opus 4.8 (Claude Code)
maximum
Best value
Claude Code
Claude Sonnet 5 (Claude Code)
strong
Lowest cost
OpenAI API
GPT-5
strong
Premium
Claude Code
Claude Opus 4.8 (Claude Code)
maximum
Expected budget
Estimated tokens
20M – 80M
Expected duration
~30h
Why
Large refactors touch many files and need whole-codebase awareness. A Maximum model reduces the risk of subtle breakage.
When to upgrade
Already at Maximum — keep it for the planning and risky edits.
When a cheaper model is fine
Hand mechanical, repetitive edits to a Standard model once the plan is set.
Methodology rec-v0.1 · Last reviewed 2026-07-01. This is editorial guidance, not a definitive ranking. See how we make recommendations.