Claude Opus 4 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5

Compare Anthropic and Anthropic AI models

Anthropic

Claude Opus 4

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4.5

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

Claude Opus 4

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

Feature Comparison

Feature	Claude Opus 4	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	5/14/2025	9/29/2025

Claude Opus 4 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5: Which Should You Choose?

Choosing between Claude Opus 4 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.

These models target different tiers: Claude Opus 4 is a flagship model while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is balanced. This means they're optimized for different workloads. Claude Opus 4 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 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 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 (Anthropic)

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Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Anthropic)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4 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 — that's 80% savings on input costs.

What is the context window difference between Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4.5?▼

Claude Opus 4 supports 200,000 tokens while Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200,000 tokens — a difference of 0 tokens in favor of Claude Opus 4.

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 offers a larger context window (200,000 vs 200,000 tokens). Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 for budget sensitivity or Claude Opus 4 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 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.