Claude 3 Opus vs Claude Sonnet 4

Compare Anthropic and Anthropic AI models

Anthropic

Claude 3 Opus

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4

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

Claude 3 Opus

Per Request:$0.0525

Daily:$5.25

Monthly:$157.50

Yearly:$1,916.25

Claude Sonnet 4

Per Request:$0.0105

Daily:$1.05

Monthly:$31.50

Yearly:$383.25

Cost Differences

$0.042

Per Request

$4.20

Daily

$126.00

Monthly

$1,533.00

Yearly

Claude Sonnet 4 costs less than Claude 3 Opus

Feature Comparison

Feature	Claude 3 Opus	Claude Sonnet 4
Provider	Anthropic	Anthropic
Input Price	$15.00/1M tokens	$3.00/1M tokens
Output Price	$75.00/1M tokens	$15.00/1M tokens
Context Window	200,000 tokens	200,000 tokens
Max Output	4,096 tokens	64,000 tokens
Category	flagship	standard
Capabilities	textvisionreasoning	textvisioncodereasoning
Release Date	3/4/2024	5/14/2025

Claude 3 Opus vs Claude Sonnet 4: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Claude Sonnet 4 is the more affordable option at $3.00/1M input tokens — 80% cheaper than Claude 3 Opus.

These models target different tiers: Claude 3 Opus is a flagship model while Claude Sonnet 4 is standard. This means they're optimized for different workloads. Claude 3 Opus is built for complex tasks that require deeper reasoning, while Claude Sonnet 4 offers better value for routine operations.

Output costs matter too. Claude 3 Opus charges $75.00/1M output tokens vs $15.00 for Claude Sonnet 4. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Claude Sonnet 4 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 Opus when:

• You're already using Anthropic's API ecosystem

Choose Claude Sonnet 4 when:

• Budget is a primary concern
• You need more capabilities (code)
• You need longer outputs (up to 64,000 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 Opus (Anthropic)

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Claude Sonnet 4 (Anthropic)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Claude 3 Opus or Claude Sonnet 4?▼

Claude Sonnet 4 is cheaper for input tokens at $3.00 per million tokens vs $15.00 for Claude 3 Opus — that's 80% savings on input costs.

What is the context window difference between Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4?▼

Claude 3 Opus supports 200,000 tokens while Claude Sonnet 4 supports 200,000 tokens — a difference of 0 tokens in favor of Claude 3 Opus.

Which model is better for AI Chatbot?▼

Both models support text. For ai chatbot, Claude Sonnet 4 is the lower-cost option, while Claude 3 Opus offers a larger context window (200,000 vs 200,000 tokens). Choose Claude Sonnet 4 for budget sensitivity or Claude 3 Opus 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 Opus costs about $157.50/month and Claude Sonnet 4 costs about $31.50/month. Overall, Claude Sonnet 4 has lower combined input + output rates ($3.00 in, $15.00 out) vs Claude 3 Opus.