Model Comparison
Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Llama 4 MaverickWhich is better in 2026?
Llama 4 Maverick has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Llama 4 Maverick is 21.6x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Llama 4 Maverick — which is better?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Llama 4 Maverick (by Meta) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 4 benchmarks (ChartQA, DocVQA, MATH, MMLU), while Llama 4 Maverick is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU-Pro, MMMU). Llama 4 Maverick has a slight edge in benchmark performance.
On price, Llama 4 Maverick is roughly 21.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Llama 4 Maverick also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet if…
- you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output
Choose Llama 4 Maverick if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 9 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 21.6x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 4 benchmarks (ChartQA, DocVQA, MATH, MMLU), while Llama 4 Maverick is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU-Pro, MMMU).
Llama 4 Maverick has a slight edge in benchmark performance.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 17.6x more expensive than Llama 4 Maverick ($0.17/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Llama 4 Maverick ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is more expensive than Llama 4 Maverick.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Llama 4 Maverick accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 200,000 tokens. Llama 4 Maverick can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet is limited to 200,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Llama 4 Maverick support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Llama 4 Maverick
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 4 Maverick uses Llama 4 Community License Agreement.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Llama 4 Community License Agreement
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-10-22, while Llama 4 Maverick was released on 2025-04-05.
Llama 4 Maverick is 6 months newer than Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Oct 22, 2024
1.7 years ago
Apr 5, 2025
1.3 years ago
5mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Llama 4 Maverick is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Lambda, Groq, Fireworks, Together, Sambanova.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Llama 4 Maverick
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
View detailsAnthropic
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Llama 4 Maverick side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Llama 4 Maverick.