Model Comparison

Claude 3 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.5Which is better in 2026?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Haiku is 12.0x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude 3 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 — which is better?

Claude 3 Haiku (by Anthropic) and Claude Sonnet 4.5 (by Anthropic) 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 Haiku outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Claude 3 Haiku is roughly 12.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose Claude 3 Haiku if…

  • cost matters — it's about 12.0x cheaper per token

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Claude 3 Haiku outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Claude 3 Haiku costs less

For input processing, Claude 3 Haiku ($0.25/1M tokens) is 12.0x cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($3.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude 3 Haiku ($1.25/1M tokens) is 12.0x cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($15.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is more expensive than Claude 3 Haiku.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3 Haiku
Input tokens$0.25
Output tokens$1.25
Best providerAnthropic
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 200,000 tokens. Claude 3 Haiku can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude 3 Haiku
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3 Haiku and Claude Sonnet 4.5 support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Claude 3 Haiku

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Claude 3 Haiku

Proprietary

Closed source

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Haiku was released on 2024-03-13, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 was released on 2025-09-29.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is 19 months newer than Claude 3 Haiku.

Claude 3 Haiku

Mar 13, 2024

2.3 years ago

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Sep 29, 2025

8 months ago

1.5yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Sonnet 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-31, while Claude 3 Haiku's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Claude Sonnet 4.5's training data extends to 2025-01-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3 Haiku's cutoff date.

Claude 3 Haiku

—

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Jan 2025

Provider Availability

Claude 3 Haiku is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is available from Anthropic.

Claude 3 Haiku

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.25/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.25/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.25/1M

Claude Sonnet 4.5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Anthropic
Higher GPQA score (83.4% vs 33.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Haiku
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.5.

Which is better, Claude 3 Haiku or Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Haiku is made by Anthropic and Claude Sonnet 4.5 is made by Anthropic. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3 Haiku compare to Claude Sonnet 4.5 in benchmarks?

Claude 3 Haiku scores ARC-C: 89.2%, GSM8k: 88.9%, HellaSwag: 85.9%, DROP: 78.4%, HumanEval: 75.9%. Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores MMMLU: 89.1%, AIME 2025: 87.0%, TAU-bench Retail: 86.2%, GPQA: 83.4%, MMMUval: 77.8%.

Is Claude 3 Haiku cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Claude 3 Haiku is 12.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3 Haiku costs $0.25/M input and $1.25/M output via anthropic. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3 Haiku and Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Claude 3 Haiku supports 200K tokens and Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3 Haiku and Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Key differences include input pricing ($0.25 vs $3.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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