Model Comparison
Claude 3 Opus vs Llama 4 MaverickWhich is better in 2026?
Llama 4 Maverick significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 4 Maverick is 108.1x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude 3 Opus vs Llama 4 Maverick — which is better?
Claude 3 Opus (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 Opus outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Llama 4 Maverick is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MGSM, MMLU-Pro). Llama 4 Maverick significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Llama 4 Maverick is roughly 108.1x 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 Opus if…
- you want predictable pricing at $15.00/M input and $75.00/M output
Choose Llama 4 Maverick if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 5 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 108.1x 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 Opus outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Llama 4 Maverick is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MGSM, MMLU-Pro).
Llama 4 Maverick significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3 Opus ($15.00/1M tokens) is 88.2x more expensive than Llama 4 Maverick ($0.17/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3 Opus ($75.00/1M tokens) is 125.0x more expensive than Llama 4 Maverick ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Opus 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 Opus's 200,000 tokens. Llama 4 Maverick can generate longer responses up to 1,000,000 tokens, while Claude 3 Opus is limited to 200,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude 3 Opus and Llama 4 Maverick support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3 Opus
Llama 4 Maverick
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude 3 Opus 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 Opus was released on 2024-02-29, while Llama 4 Maverick was released on 2025-04-05.
Llama 4 Maverick is 13 months newer than Claude 3 Opus.
Feb 29, 2024
2.3 years ago
Apr 5, 2025
1.2 years ago
1.1yr 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 Opus is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Llama 4 Maverick is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Lambda, Groq, Fireworks, Together, Sambanova.
Claude 3 Opus
Llama 4 Maverick
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude 3 Opus
View detailsAnthropic
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Opus and Llama 4 Maverick side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Opus vs Llama 4 Maverick.