Claude Opus 4.6 vs Codestral
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Opus 4.6 by Anthropic wins on 9 of 14 benchmarks against Codestral by Mistral, which leads on 5. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from the AI Value Index.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude Opus 4.6 scores 1496 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Codestral's 1260, while Claude Opus 4.6 scores 82.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Codestral's 68.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Opus 4.6 scores 93.5% on HumanEval+ compared to Codestral's 86.0%, while Claude Opus 4.6 scores 80.8% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Codestral's 40.0%, while Claude Opus 4.6 scores 72.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Codestral's 48.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Opus 4.6 scores 92.0% on MATH compared to Codestral's 72.0%, while Claude Opus 4.6 scores 97.0% on GSM8K compared to Codestral's 88.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Opus 4.6 scores 91.3% on GPQA Diamond compared to Codestral's 44.0%, while Claude Opus 4.6 scores 60.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Codestral's 24.0%.
Context: In context, Codestral scores 262K on Context Length compared to Claude Opus 4.6's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.0/1M input tokens and $25.0/1M output tokens, while Codestral costs $0.30/1M input and $0.90/1M output. Codestral is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude Opus 4.6 generates output at 68 tok/s compared to Codestral's 90 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1680 ms for Claude Opus 4.6 versus 280 ms for Codestral. Codestral delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Opus 4.6 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Codestral is the stronger choice.
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Claude Opus 4.6 vs Codestral — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 or Codestral?
Claude Opus 4.6 wins on more benchmarks overall (9 vs 5). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Opus 4.6 compare to Codestral for coding?
Claude Opus 4.6 is better for coding, scoring 80.8% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 40.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Opus 4.6 cheaper than Codestral?
Yes, Codestral is cheaper. Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.0/1M input and $25.0/1M output tokens. Codestral costs $0.30/1M input and $0.90/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Opus 4.6 or Codestral?
Codestral is faster, generating output at 90 tok/s compared to 68 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Opus 4.6 vs Codestral comparison cover?
This comparison covers 14 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, SWE-bench Verified, GPQA Diamond, Output Speed, Time to First Token, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.