Model Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Nova MicroWhich is better in 2026?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Micro is 104.3x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Nova Micro — which is better?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (by Anthropic) and Nova Micro (by Amazon) 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 Sonnet 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Nova Micro is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Nova Micro is roughly 104.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Choose Nova Micro if…

  • cost matters — it's about 104.3x cheaper per token

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

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

Claude Sonnet 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Micro costs less

For input processing, Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 100.0x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.03/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 107.1x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.14/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is more expensive than Nova Micro.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Jul 14 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.14
Best providerAWS Bedrock
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Sonnet 4.5 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Nova Micro's 128,000 tokens. Nova Micro can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Jul 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Nova Micro does not.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova Micro

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 Sonnet 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Nova Micro

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Sonnet 4.5 was released on 2025-09-29, while Nova Micro was released on 2024-11-20.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is 10 months newer than Nova Micro.

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Sep 29, 2025

9 months ago

10mo newer
Nova Micro

Nov 20, 2024

1.6 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Sonnet 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-31, while Nova Micro'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 Nova Micro's cutoff date.

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Jan 2025

Nova Micro

—

Provider Availability

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is available from Anthropic. Nova Micro is available from Bedrock.

Claude Sonnet 4.5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Nova Micro

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.14/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (83.4% vs 40.0%)
Amazon
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Nova Micro side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude Sonnet 4.5
✓ Preferred
Nova Micro
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Amazon
Nova Micro

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Nova Micro.

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Nova Micro?

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

How does Claude Sonnet 4.5 compare to Nova Micro in benchmarks?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores MMMLU: 89.1%, AIME 2025: 87.0%, TAU-bench Retail: 86.2%, GPQA: 83.4%, MMMUval: 77.8%. Nova Micro scores GSM8k: 92.3%, ARC-C: 90.2%, Translation Set1→en COMET22: 88.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.5%, IFEval: 87.2%.

Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is 100.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Nova Micro costs $0.03/M input and $0.14/M output via bedrock.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Nova Micro?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200K tokens and Nova Micro supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Nova Micro?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 128K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.03/M), multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Nova Micro?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is developed by Anthropic and Nova Micro is developed by Amazon.

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