Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude Sonnet 4.5
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 by Anthropic wins on 11 of 15 benchmarks against Claude 3.5 Sonnet by Anthropic, which leads on 2. 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 4.5 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 1268, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 73.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 88.0% on IFEval compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 86.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 81.7%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 49.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 62.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 38.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 87.0% on MATH compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 78.3%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 95.5% on GSM8K compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 91.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 59.4%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 45.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 15.0%.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude 3.5 Sonnet costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output. Both models are priced identically for input tokens.
Speed Comparison
Claude 3.5 Sonnet generates output at 70 tok/s compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 67 tok/s, and the time to first token is 400 ms for Claude 3.5 Sonnet versus 1170 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.5. Claude 3.5 Sonnet delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing speed, Claude 3.5 Sonnet has the edge. For those who value coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the stronger choice.
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude Sonnet 4.5?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (11 vs 2). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude 3.5 Sonnet compare to Claude Sonnet 4.5 for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 49.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.5?
Both models are priced the same at $3.0/1M input tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet output costs $15.0/1M and Claude Sonnet 4.5 output costs $15.0/1M.
Which is faster, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude Sonnet 4.5?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is faster, generating output at 70 tok/s compared to 67 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 15 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, IFEval, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.