Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Compare Anthropic and Anthropic AI models
Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Cost Differences
Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs less than Claude Sonnet 4.5
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Input Price | $3.00/1M tokens | $3.00/1M tokens |
| Output Price | $15.00/1M tokens | $15.00/1M tokens |
| Context Window | 200,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max Output | 64,000 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Category | balanced | balanced |
| Capabilities | textvisioncode | textvisioncodereasoningcomputer-use |
| Release Date | 9/29/2025 | 2/18/2026 |
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the more affordable option at $3.00/1M input tokens. Meanwhile, Claude Sonnet 4.6 offers a significantly larger context window at 1,000,000 tokens vs 200,000 for Claude Sonnet 4.5.
Both models are in the balanced category, making this a direct head-to-head comparison. At scale — say 10,000 requests per day — the cost difference adds up: Claude Sonnet 4.6 would save you roughly $0.00/month compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5. For startups and indie developers, that difference can be significant.
Output costs matter too. Claude Sonnet 4.5 charges $15.00/1M output tokens vs $15.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Multimodal capabilities: Both models support vision (image understanding), so you can send images alongside text prompts with either option.
Best Use Cases
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 when:
- • You're already using Anthropic's API ecosystem
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when:
- • You need a larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
- • You need more capabilities (reasoning, computer-use)
- • You need longer outputs (up to 65,536 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 Sonnet 4.5 (Anthropic)
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic)
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