Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude 3 Opus

Claude Opus 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.6 is 3.0x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Claude 3 Opus is better at 0 benchmarks.

Claude Opus 4.6 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 Opus 4.6 costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Claude 3 Opus ($15.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Claude 3 Opus ($75.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude 3 Opus is more expensive than Claude Opus 4.6.*

* 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 4.6
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Anthropic
Claude 3 Opus
Input tokens$15.00
Output tokens$75.00
Best providerAnthropic
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Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Opus 4.6 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Claude 3 Opus's 200,000 tokens. Claude 3 Opus can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.6 is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Anthropic
Claude 3 Opus
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude 3 Opus support multimodal inputs.

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

Claude Opus 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Claude 3 Opus

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 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Claude 3 Opus

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.6 was released on 2026-02-05, while Claude 3 Opus was released on 2024-02-29.

Claude Opus 4.6 is 24 months newer than Claude 3 Opus.

Claude Opus 4.6

Feb 5, 2026

2 months ago

1.9yr newer
Claude 3 Opus

Feb 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

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 Opus 4.6 is available from Anthropic. Claude 3 Opus is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google.

Claude Opus 4.6

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

Claude 3 Opus

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $15.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $75.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $15.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $75.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $15.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $75.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher GPQA score (91.3% vs 50.4%)
Anthropic

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
Anthropic
Claude 3 Opus

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude 3 Opus

Claude Opus 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.6 is made by Anthropic and Claude 3 Opus is made by Anthropic. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Claude Opus 4.6 scores Vending-Bench 2: 100.0%, AIME 2025: 99.8%, Tau2 Telecom: 99.3%, Graphwalks parents >128k: 95.4%, MRCR v2 (8-needle): 93.0%. Claude 3 Opus scores ARC-C: 96.4%, HellaSwag: 95.4%, GSM8k: 95.0%, MGSM: 90.7%, BIG-Bench Hard: 86.8%.
Claude Opus 4.6 is 3.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Claude 3 Opus costs $15.00/M input and $75.00/M output via anthropic.
Claude Opus 4.6 supports 1.0M tokens and Claude 3 Opus supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (1.0M vs 200K), input pricing ($5.00 vs $15.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.