Claude 3 Opus vs Claude 3 Sonnet
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude 3 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $75.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Deep analysis, complex coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 78/100 |
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
| Input | $3.00/M |
| Output | $15.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General-purpose coding and reasoning |
| Benchmark | 65/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3 Opus | Claude 3 Sonnet | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78 | 65 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 13pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74 | 58 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 16pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 80 | 68 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 12pts |
| HumanEval | 94 | 85 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 9pts |
| BigCodeBench | 64 | 50 | Claude 3 Opus leads by 14pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude 3 Opus | Claude 3 Sonnet | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $2.77 | $0.55 | Claude 3 Sonnet saves $2.22 (80%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $20.25 | $4.05 | Claude 3 Sonnet saves $16.20 (80%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $101.25 | $20.25 | Claude 3 Sonnet saves $81.00 (80%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $4.50 | $0.90 | Claude 3 Sonnet saves $3.60 (80%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude 3 Opus | 78 | $0.192/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Claude 3 Sonnet | 65 | $0.046/pt | Better value |
Claude 3 Sonnet delivers the best value at $0.046 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3 Opus
- + Strong reasoning
- + Proven track record
- - Older generation
- - Expensive
Claude 3 Sonnet
- + Reliable
- + Good value
- - Two generations behind
Verdict
Claude 3 Sonnet is cheaper at $3.00/M, but Claude 3 Opus scores higher on benchmarks (78 vs 65).
Choose Claude 3 Sonnet for cost-sensitive projects, Claude 3 Opus when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
AnthropicPrevious generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.
Claude 3.5 Haiku
AnthropicFast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.
GPT-4o
OpenAIOpenAI's flagship multimodal model. Strong coding and reasoning at competitive pricing.