Claude Opus 4 vs Codestral

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.

Claude Opus 4 by Anthropic wins on 10 of 16 benchmarks against Codestral by Mistral, which leads on 6. 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 Opus 4 scores 1375 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Codestral's 1260, while Claude Opus 4 scores 83.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Codestral's 68.0%.

Coding: In coding, Claude Opus 4 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Codestral's 86.0%, while Claude Opus 4 scores 72.5% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Codestral's 40.0%, while Claude Opus 4 scores 60.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Codestral's 48.0%, while Claude Opus 4 scores 1171 on Design Arena ELO compared to Codestral's 1025.

Math: In math, Claude Opus 4 scores 86.0% on MATH compared to Codestral's 72.0%, while Claude Opus 4 scores 95.0% on GSM8K compared to Codestral's 88.0%.

Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Opus 4 scores 79.6% on GPQA Diamond compared to Codestral's 44.0%, while Claude Opus 4 scores 45.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Codestral's 24.0%.

Context: In context, Codestral scores 256K on Context Length compared to Claude Opus 4's 200K.

Pricing Comparison

Claude Opus 4 costs $15.0/1M input tokens and $75.0/1M 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 generates output at 50 tok/s compared to Codestral's 90 tok/s, and the time to first token is 550 ms for Claude Opus 4 versus 280 ms for Codestral. Codestral delivers faster throughput.

Verdict

For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Opus 4 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Codestral is the stronger choice.

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Claude Opus 4 vs Codestral — FAQ

Which is better, Claude Opus 4 or Codestral?

Claude Opus 4 wins on more benchmarks overall (10 vs 6). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.

How does Claude Opus 4 compare to Codestral for coding?

Claude Opus 4 is better for coding, scoring 72.5% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 40.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.

Is Claude Opus 4 cheaper than Codestral?

Yes, Codestral is cheaper. Claude Opus 4 costs $15.0/1M input and $75.0/1M output tokens. Codestral costs $0.30/1M input and $0.90/1M output tokens.

Which is faster, Claude Opus 4 or Codestral?

Codestral is faster, generating output at 90 tok/s compared to 50 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.

What benchmarks does the Claude Opus 4 vs Codestral comparison cover?

This comparison covers 16 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.