Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 14 of 20 benchmarks against Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 4.6 scores 1395 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 1380, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 83.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 89.0% on IFEval compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 88.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 30.5 on AA Intelligence Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 21.2.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 91.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 90.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 77.2%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 65.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 62.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 70.0% on Aider Polyglot compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 68.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 63 on AA Coding Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 52.1.
Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 88.0% on MATH compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 87.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 96.0% on GSM8K compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 95.5%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 74.1%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 48.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 45.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 33.1 on AA Agentic Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.5's 17.5.
Context: In context, both score 1.0M on Context Length.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output. Both models are priced identically for input tokens.
Speed Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 generates output at 67 tok/s compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 57 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1170 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.5 versus 790 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Claude Sonnet 4.5 delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing speed, Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 wins on more benchmarks overall (14 vs 2). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 77.2%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Both models are priced the same at $3.0/1M input tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.5 output costs $15.0/1M and Claude Sonnet 4.6 output costs $15.0/1M.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is faster, generating output at 67 tok/s compared to 57 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 20 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.