Claude 3.5 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 by Anthropic wins on 10 of 14 benchmarks against Claude 3.5 Haiku by Anthropic, which leads on 4. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 1395 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 1180, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 60.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 91.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 74.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 22.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 65.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 28.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 88.0% on MATH compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 62.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 96.0% on GSM8K compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 84.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 74.1% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 35.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 48.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 12.0%.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Claude 3.5 Haiku's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude 3.5 Haiku costs $0.80/1M input tokens and $4.0/1M output tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output. Claude 3.5 Haiku is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude 3.5 Haiku generates output at 170 tok/s compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 57 tok/s, and the time to first token is 100 ms for Claude 3.5 Haiku versus 790 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Claude 3.5 Haiku delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing affordability and speed, Claude 3.5 Haiku has the edge. For those who value coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the stronger choice.
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Claude 3.5 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude 3.5 Haiku or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 wins on more benchmarks overall (10 vs 4). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude 3.5 Haiku compare to Claude Sonnet 4.6 for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better for coding, scoring 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 22.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude 3.5 Haiku cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Yes, Claude 3.5 Haiku is cheaper. Claude 3.5 Haiku costs $0.80/1M input and $4.0/1M output tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude 3.5 Haiku or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude 3.5 Haiku is faster, generating output at 170 tok/s compared to 57 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude 3.5 Haiku vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 14 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, LiveCodeBench, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.