Claude Opus 4.1 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5

Compare Anthropic and Anthropic AI models

Anthropic

Claude Opus 4.1

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Try Anthropic →

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

Claude Opus 4.1

Per Request:$0.0525

Daily:$5.25

Monthly:$157.50

Yearly:$1,916.25

Claude Sonnet 4.5

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 4.5 costs less than Claude Opus 4.1

Feature Comparison

Feature	Claude Opus 4.1	Claude Sonnet 4.5
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	32,000 tokens	64,000 tokens
Category	flagship	balanced
Capabilities	textvisioncodereasoning	textvisioncode
Release Date	8/5/2025	9/29/2025

Claude Opus 4.1 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4.5 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the more affordable option at $3.00/1M input tokens — 80% cheaper than Claude Opus 4.1.

These models target different tiers: Claude Opus 4.1 is a flagship model while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is balanced. This means they're optimized for different workloads. Claude Opus 4.1 is built for complex tasks that require deeper reasoning, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 offers better value for routine operations.

Output costs matter too. Claude Opus 4.1 charges $75.00/1M output tokens vs $15.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.5. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 Opus 4.1 when:

• You need more capabilities (reasoning)
• You're already using Anthropic's API ecosystem

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 when:

• Budget is a primary concern
• 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 Opus 4.1 (Anthropic)

Cost Calculator

Provider

Model

Input Tokens

Output Tokens

Requests/Day

Select a provider and model to see costs

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Anthropic)

Cost Calculator

Provider

Model

Input Tokens

Output Tokens

Requests/Day

Select a provider and model to see costs

Start using Claude Opus 4.1 today

Start using Claude Sonnet 4.5 today

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4.5?▼

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is cheaper for input tokens at $3.00 per million tokens vs $15.00 for Claude Opus 4.1 — that's 80% savings on input costs.

What is the context window difference between Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4.5?▼

Claude Opus 4.1 supports 200,000 tokens while Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200,000 tokens — a difference of 0 tokens in favor of Claude Opus 4.1.

Which model is better for AI Chatbot?▼

Both models support text. For ai chatbot, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the lower-cost option, while Claude Opus 4.1 offers a larger context window (200,000 vs 200,000 tokens). Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 for budget sensitivity or Claude Opus 4.1 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 Opus 4.1 costs about $157.50/month and Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs about $31.50/month. Overall, Claude Sonnet 4.5 has lower combined input + output rates ($3.00 in, $15.00 out) vs Claude Opus 4.1.