Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Llama 3.3 70B

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 Llama 3.3 70B by Meta, 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 4.5 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 1210, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 60.0%.

Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 72.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 22.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 62.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 26.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 52.1 on AA Coding Index compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 11.9.

Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 87.0% on MATH compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 60.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 95.5% on GSM8K compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 82.0%.

Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 34.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 45.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 10.0%.

Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 131K.

Pricing Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Llama 3.3 70B costs $0.10/1M input and $0.32/1M output. Llama 3.3 70B is the more affordable option for API usage.

Speed Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.5 generates output at 67 tok/s compared to Llama 3.3 70B's 90 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1170 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.5 versus 300 ms for Llama 3.3 70B. Llama 3.3 70B delivers faster throughput.

Verdict

For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Llama 3.3 70B is the stronger choice.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Llama 3.3 70B — FAQ

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Llama 3.3 70B?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (11 vs 4). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.

How does Claude Sonnet 4.5 compare to Llama 3.3 70B for coding?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 22.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.

Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Llama 3.3 70B?

Yes, Llama 3.3 70B is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Llama 3.3 70B costs $0.10/1M input and $0.32/1M output tokens.

Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Llama 3.3 70B?

Llama 3.3 70B is faster, generating output at 90 tok/s compared to 67 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.

What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Llama 3.3 70B comparison cover?

This comparison covers 15 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.