Claude Sonnet 4 vs o3
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
o3 by OpenAI wins on 11 of 16 benchmarks against Claude Sonnet 4 by Anthropic, which leads on 5. 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, o3 scores 1380 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 1365, while o3 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 81.0%, while o3 scores 92.0% on IFEval compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 87.0%.
Coding: In coding, o3 scores 90.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 88.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4 scores 72.7% on SWE-bench Verified compared to o3's 69.1%, while o3 scores 70.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 58.0%.
Math: In math, o3 scores 96.0% on MATH compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 85.0%, while o3 scores 98.5% on GSM8K compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 94.5%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, o3 scores 83.3% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 75.4%, while o3 scores 75.7% on ARC-AGI compared to Claude Sonnet 4's 42.0%.
Context: In context, Claude Sonnet 4 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to o3's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while o3 costs $2.0/1M input and $8.0/1M output. o3 is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4 generates output at 75 tok/s compared to o3's 40 tok/s, and the time to first token is 400 ms for Claude Sonnet 4 versus 800 ms for o3. Claude Sonnet 4 delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and speed, Claude Sonnet 4 has the edge. For those who value general intelligence and math and affordability, o3 is the stronger choice.
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Claude Sonnet 4 vs o3 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4 or o3?
o3 wins on more benchmarks overall (11 vs 5). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4 compare to o3 for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4 is better for coding, scoring 72.7% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 69.1%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4 cheaper than o3?
Yes, o3 is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. o3 costs $2.0/1M input and $8.0/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4 or o3?
Claude Sonnet 4 is faster, generating output at 75 tok/s compared to 40 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4 vs o3 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 16 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.