Model Comparison

Claude 3 Sonnet vs Claude Opus 5Which is better in 2026?

Comparing Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Claude 3 Sonnet vs Claude Opus 5 — which is better?

Claude 3 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Claude Opus 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.

On price, Claude 3 Sonnet is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude Opus 5 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 Sonnet if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token

Choose Claude Opus 5 if…

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Claude 3 Sonnet costs less

For input processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than Claude 3 Sonnet.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Jul 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Anthropic
Claude Opus 5
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Opus 5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Claude 3 Sonnet's 200,000 tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 5 is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Anthropic
Claude Opus 5
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Fri Jul 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5 support multimodal inputs.

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

Claude 3 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Claude Opus 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 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Claude Opus 5

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Claude Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24.

Claude Opus 5 is 29 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.4 years ago

Claude Opus 5

Jul 24, 2026

0 days ago

2.4yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Claude Opus 5 is available from Anthropic.

Claude 3 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Claude Opus 5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $25.00/1M
* 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
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude 3 Sonnet
✓ Preferred
Claude Opus 5
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Anthropic
Claude Opus 5

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Claude Opus 5.

Which is better, Claude 3 Sonnet or Claude Opus 5?

Claude 3 Sonnet (Anthropic) and Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Claude 3 Sonnet compare to Claude Opus 5 in benchmarks?

Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%. Claude Opus 5 scores BrowseComp: 90.8%, BioMysteryBench: 90.1%, OSWorld 2.0: 70.6%, DeepSWE 1.1: 68.8%, Humanity's Last Exam: 64.7%.

Is Claude 3 Sonnet cheaper than Claude Opus 5?

Claude 3 Sonnet is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Claude Opus 5 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5?

Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Claude Opus 5 supports 1.0M 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 Sonnet and Claude Opus 5?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($3.00 vs $5.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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