Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Pixtral Large

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

Claude Sonnet 4.6 by Anthropic wins on 10 of 14 benchmarks against Pixtral Large by Mistral, 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 4.6 scores 1395 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Pixtral Large's 1270, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Pixtral Large's 70.0%.

Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 91.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Pixtral Large's 80.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Pixtral Large's 35.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 65.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Pixtral Large's 40.0%.

Math: In math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 88.0% on MATH compared to Pixtral Large's 74.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 96.0% on GSM8K compared to Pixtral Large's 90.0%.

Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 74.1% on GPQA Diamond compared to Pixtral Large's 48.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 48.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Pixtral Large's 22.0%.

Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Pixtral Large's 131K.

Pricing Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Pixtral Large costs $2.0/1M input and $6.0/1M output. Pixtral Large is the more affordable option for API usage.

Speed Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4.6 generates output at 57 tok/s compared to Pixtral Large's 60 tok/s, and the time to first token is 790 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.6 versus 400 ms for Pixtral Large. Pixtral Large delivers faster throughput.

Verdict

For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Pixtral Large is the stronger choice.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Pixtral Large — FAQ

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Pixtral Large?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 wins on more benchmarks overall (10 vs 4). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.

How does Claude Sonnet 4.6 compare to Pixtral Large for coding?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better for coding, scoring 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 35.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than Pixtral Large?

Yes, Pixtral Large is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Pixtral Large costs $2.0/1M input and $6.0/1M output tokens.

Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Pixtral Large?

Pixtral Large is faster, generating output at 60 tok/s compared to 57 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.

What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Pixtral Large comparison cover?

This comparison covers 14 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.