Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Qwen 3.5 397B
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 by Anthropic wins on 12 of 18 benchmarks against Qwen 3.5 397B by Qwen, 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 Qwen 3.5 397B's 1350, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 81.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 21.2 on AA Intelligence Index compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 19.1.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 88.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 76.4%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 62.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 54.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 52.1 on AA Coding Index compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 48.2.
Math: In math, both score 87.0% on MATH, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 95.5% on GSM8K compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 95.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 83.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 62.0%, while both score 45.0% on ARC-AGI, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 17.5 on AA Agentic Index compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 10.6.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.5 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 262K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Qwen 3.5 397B costs $0.55/1M input and $3.5/1M output. Qwen 3.5 397B is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 generates output at 67 tok/s compared to Qwen 3.5 397B's 45 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1170 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.5 versus 600 ms for Qwen 3.5 397B. Claude Sonnet 4.5 delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and speed, Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the edge. For those who value affordability, Qwen 3.5 397B is the stronger choice.
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Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Qwen 3.5 397B — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Qwen 3.5 397B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins on more benchmarks overall (12 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 Qwen 3.5 397B for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 77.2% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 76.4%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 cheaper than Qwen 3.5 397B?
Yes, Qwen 3.5 397B is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Qwen 3.5 397B costs $0.55/1M input and $3.5/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Qwen 3.5 397B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is faster, generating output at 67 tok/s compared to 45 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Qwen 3.5 397B comparison cover?
This comparison covers 18 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.