Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude 3 Sonnet

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is 1.7x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

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

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Claude 3 Sonnet costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens).

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

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
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 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

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

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

Claude Opus 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Claude 3 Sonnet

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 Opus 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Claude 3 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29.

Claude Opus 4.5 is 21 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude Opus 4.5

Nov 24, 2025

4 months ago

1.7yr newer
Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Opus 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while Claude 3 Sonnet's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Claude Opus 4.5's training data extends to 2025-03-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3 Sonnet's cutoff date.

Claude Opus 4.5

Mar 2025

Claude 3 Sonnet

—

Provider Availability

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

Claude Opus 4.5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $25.00/1M

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
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Higher GPQA score (87.0% vs 40.4%)
Anthropic
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens

Detailed Comparison

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

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude 3 Sonnet

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 is made by Anthropic and Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Claude Opus 4.5 scores Tau2 Telecom: 98.2%, MMMLU: 90.8%, Tau2 Retail: 88.9%, GPQA: 87.0%, SWE-Bench Verified: 80.9%. Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%.
Claude 3 Sonnet is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic.
Claude Opus 4.5 supports 200K tokens and Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include input pricing ($5.00 vs $3.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.