Claude 3 Sonnet vs Codestral
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
Codestral
MistralMistral's dedicated coding model. Open-weight and highly optimized for code generation and completion.
| Input | $0.300/M |
| Output | $0.900/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Code completion, code generation, IDE integration |
| Benchmark | 60/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude 3 Sonnet | Codestral | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65 | 60 | Claude 3 Sonnet leads by 5pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 58 | 54 | Claude 3 Sonnet leads by 4pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 68 | 64 | Claude 3 Sonnet leads by 4pts |
| HumanEval | 85 | 82 | Claude 3 Sonnet leads by 3pts |
| BigCodeBench | 50 | 44 | Claude 3 Sonnet leads by 6pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude 3 Sonnet | Codestral | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.55 | $0.04 | Codestral saves $0.52 (93%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $4.05 | $0.29 | Codestral saves $3.76 (93%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $20.25 | $1.43 | Codestral saves $18.82 (93%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.90 | $0.07 | Codestral saves $0.82 (92%) |
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 Sonnet | 65 | $0.046/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Codestral | 60 | $0.005/pt | Better value |
Codestral delivers the best value at $0.005 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude 3 Sonnet
- + Reliable
- + Good value
- - Two generations behind
Codestral
- + Code-specialized
- + Very cheap
- - Narrow focus
Verdict
Codestral is cheaper at $0.300/M, but Claude 3 Sonnet scores higher on benchmarks (65 vs 60).
Choose Codestral for cost-sensitive projects, Claude 3 Sonnet 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 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.