Model Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Llama 3.1 405B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is 6.7x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct — which is better?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 (by Anthropic) and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (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 Sonnet 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Sonnet 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is roughly 6.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 Feb 2026

Choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 6.7x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Claude Sonnet 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 3.4x more expensive than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 16.9x more expensive than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is more expensive than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Input tokens$0.89
Output tokens$0.89
Best providerLambda
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 405B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 405B Instruct does not.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Claude Sonnet 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct uses Llama 3.1 Community License.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Claude Sonnet 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Sonnet 4.6 was released on 2026-02-17, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 19 months newer than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.

Claude Sonnet 4.6

Feb 17, 2026

4 months ago

1.6yr newer
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 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 Sonnet 4.6 is available from Anthropic. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Fireworks, Bedrock, Together, Hyperbolic, Google, Replicate.

Claude Sonnet 4.6

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

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $1.79/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.79/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $3.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.50/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $4.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $16.00/1M
replicate logo
Replicate
Input Price:Input: $9.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $9.50/1M
* 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 (89.9% vs 50.7%)
Meta
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude Sonnet 4.6
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is made by Anthropic and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude Sonnet 4.6 compare to Llama 3.1 405B Instruct in benchmarks?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores Tau2 Telecom: 97.9%, Tau2 Retail: 91.7%, GPQA: 89.9%, MMMLU: 89.3%, SWE-Bench Verified: 79.6%. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct scores ARC-C: 96.9%, GSM8k: 96.8%, API-Bank: 92.0%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 91.6%, HumanEval: 89.0%.

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is 3.4x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct costs $0.89/M input and $0.89/M output via lambda.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 200K tokens and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct 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 4.6 and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 128K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.89/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Llama 3.1 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is developed by Anthropic and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is developed by Meta.

Related comparisons