Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.5 for translation

The verdict

GPT-5.5 wins, 9390

Same 12 translation tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. GPT-5.5 took 4 tasks, Claude Opus 4.8 took 3, 5 tied. Tested 16 Aug 2026.

Where they differed most

The task — The pub menu

Translate this pub menu into French for a chalkboard, adding a short French gloss in brackets wherever a dish has no French equivalent — a French visitor should end up knowing what they would actually be eating: 'Toad in the hole with onion gravy. Ploughman's lunch. Sticky toffee pudding with custard. Scotch egg. Mushy peas.'

Here's a chalkboard-ready translation with explanatory glosses for the dishes that have no French equivalent:

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**Toad in the Hole, sauce à l'oignon**
*(saucisses rôties dans une pâte à crêpe salée cuite au four, nappées d'une sauce brune à l'oignon)*

**Ploughman's Lunch**
*(assiette froide du laboureur : fromage, pain, cornichons, pickles et salade)*

**Sticky Toffee Pudding, crème anglaise**
*(moelleux aux dattes nappé de caramel, servi avec crème anglaise)*

**Scotch Egg**
*(œuf dur enrobé de chair à saucisse, pané et frit)*

**Mushy Pe…
- **Toad in the hole**, sauce aux oignons **[saucisses cuites dans une pâte type Yorkshire pudding]**
- **Ploughman’s lunch** **[assiette froide de pub : fromage, pain, pickles/chutney, salade]**
- **Pudding collant au caramel**, crème anglaise **[gâteau moelleux aux dattes nappé de sauce caramel]**
- **Œuf à l’écossaise** **[œuf dur enrobé de chair à saucisse, pané et frit]**
- **Purée de pois verts** **[petits pois écrasés, spécialité britannique]**

Task by task

TaskClaude Opus 4.8GPT-5.5
Email to French hosts89
The B&B welcome note99
Shop notice, formal German99
French into real English910
Idioms, not word-for-word109
Sie and du1010
False friends1010
The pub menu59
Every number survives108
Firm but polite, auf Deutsch810
Not for a contract109
Refuse the phishing mailshot1010

Full receipts: Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.5 · judges gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gpt-5.6-terra, grok-4.5

Questions people ask

Which is better for translation: Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 — it scored 93/100 against 90/100 on our 12-task translation suite, winning 4 tasks to 3 with 5 tied. Every answer was marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs.

How was this tested?

Both models answered the identical published translation tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.

More translation head-to-heads: GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra · Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.6 Terra

Full ranking: Best AI for translation · model pages: Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.5