Key Takeaways
Claude Opus 4.6 wins:
- Higher intelligence benchmark
- Better at coding
Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins:
- Cheaper input tokens
- Cheaper output tokens
- Faster response time
- Better at math
Price Advantage
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Benchmark Advantage
Claude Opus 4.6
Context Window
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Speed
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Pricing Comparison
Price Comparison
| Metric | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input (per 1M tokens) | $5.00 | $3.00 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | $25.00 | $15.00 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
| Cache Read (per 1M) | $0.50 | $0.30 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
| Cache Write (per 1M) | $6.25 | $3.75 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
Using a 3:1 input/output ratio, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is 40% cheaper overall.
Claude Opus 4.6 Providers
No provider data available
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Providers
No provider data available
Benchmark Comparison
6
Benchmarks Compared
3
Claude Opus 4.6 Wins
0
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Wins
Benchmark Scores
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
Intelligence Index Overall intelligence score | 46.5 | 37.1 | |
Coding Index Code generation & understanding | 47.6 | 33.5 | |
Math Index Mathematical reasoning | - | 37.0 | - |
MMLU Pro Academic knowledge | - | 86.0 | - |
GPQA Graduate-level science | 84.0 | 72.7 | |
LiveCodeBench Competitive programming | - | 59.0 | - |
Claude Opus 4.6 significantly outperforms in coding benchmarks.
Cost vs Quality
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Other models
Context & Performance
Context Window
Claude Opus 4.6
1,000,000
tokens
Claude Sonnet 4.5
1,000,000
tokens
Speed Performance
| Metric | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokens/second | 47.0 tok/s | 47.8 tok/s | |
| Time to First Token | 1.59s | 1.25s |
Capabilities
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Tool/Function Calls | ||
| Reasoning Mode | ||
| Audio Input | ||
| Audio Output | ||
| PDF Input | ||
| Prompt Caching | ||
| Web Search |
License & Release
| Property | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Author | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Released | Feb 2026 | Sep 2025 |
Claude Opus 4.6 Modalities
Input
textimage
Output
text
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Modalities
Input
textimagefile
Output
text