Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude Opus 4

Compare Anthropic and Anthropic AI models

Anthropic

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Anthropic

Claude Opus 4

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Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Per Request:$0.0105

Daily:$1.05

Monthly:$31.50

Yearly:$383.25

Claude Opus 4

Per Request:$0.0525

Daily:$5.25

Monthly:$157.50

Yearly:$1,916.25

Cost Differences

+$0.042

Per Request

+$4.20

Daily

+$126.00

Monthly

+$1,533.00

Yearly

Claude Opus 4 costs more than Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Feature Comparison

Feature	Claude 3.5 Sonnet	Claude Opus 4
Provider	Anthropic	Anthropic
Input Price	$3.00/1M tokens	$15.00/1M tokens
Output Price	$15.00/1M tokens	$75.00/1M tokens
Context Window	200,000 tokens	200,000 tokens
Max Output	8,192 tokens	32,000 tokens
Category	balanced	flagship
Capabilities	textvisioncode	textvisioncodereasoning
Release Date	10/22/2024	5/14/2025

Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude Opus 4: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude Opus 4 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the more affordable option at $3.00/1M input tokens — 80% cheaper than Claude Opus 4.

These models target different tiers: Claude 3.5 Sonnet is a balanced model while Claude Opus 4 is flagship. This means they're optimized for different workloads. Claude Opus 4 targets more demanding workloads, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet provides a cost-effective option for everyday tasks.

Output costs matter too. Claude 3.5 Sonnet charges $15.00/1M output tokens vs $75.00 for Claude Opus 4. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Claude 3.5 Sonnet has the edge here at $15.00/1M output tokens.

Multimodal capabilities: Both models support vision (image understanding), so you can send images alongside text prompts with either option.

Best Use Cases

Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet when:

• Budget is a primary concern
• You're already using Anthropic's API ecosystem

Choose Claude Opus 4 when:

• You need more capabilities (reasoning)
• You need longer outputs (up to 32,000 tokens)
• You're already using Anthropic's API ecosystem

Try Different Scenarios

Use the calculator below to see how costs change with different usage patterns

Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic)

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Claude Opus 4 (Anthropic)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude Opus 4?▼

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is cheaper for input tokens at $3.00 per million tokens vs $15.00 for Claude Opus 4 — that's 80% savings on input costs.

What is the context window difference between Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude Opus 4?▼

Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports 200,000 tokens while Claude Opus 4 supports 200,000 tokens — a difference of 0 tokens in favor of Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

Which model is better for AI Chatbot?▼

Both models support text. For ai chatbot, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the lower-cost option, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet offers a larger context window (200,000 vs 200,000 tokens). Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet for budget sensitivity or Claude 3.5 Sonnet for longer context tasks.

Which model has better overall pricing for heavy usage?▼

At 100 requests/day with 1,000 input and 500 output tokens each, Claude 3.5 Sonnet costs about $31.50/month and Claude Opus 4 costs about $157.50/month. Overall, Claude 3.5 Sonnet has lower combined input + output rates ($3.00 in, $15.00 out) vs Claude Opus 4.