Claude Opus 4 vs Claude 3 Opus
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
| Input | $15.00/M |
| Output | $75.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Complex architecture decisions, debugging hard bugs, research |
| Benchmark | 86/100 |
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 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4 | Claude 3 Opus | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 86 | 78 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 8pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 84 | 74 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 10pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 88 | 80 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 8pts |
| HumanEval | 96 | 94 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 2pts |
| BigCodeBench | 76 | 64 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 12pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude Opus 4 | Claude 3 Opus | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $3.08 | $2.77 | Claude 3 Opus saves $0.30 (10%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $23.29 | $20.25 | Claude 3 Opus saves $3.04 (13%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $116.44 | $101.25 | Claude 3 Opus saves $15.19 (13%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $6.02 | $4.50 | Claude 3 Opus saves $1.52 (25%) |
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 Opus 4 | 86 | $0.174/pt | Better value |
| Claude 3 Opus | 78 | $0.192/pt | Higher cost per point |
Claude Opus 4 delivers the best value at $0.174 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude Opus 4
- + Best at complex reasoning
- + Strong system design
- + Excellent debugging
- - Expensive for bulk tasks
- - Slower response times
Claude 3 Opus
- + Strong reasoning
- + Proven track record
- - Older generation
- - Expensive
Verdict
Claude Opus 4 wins on both price and performance — $15.00/M input with a benchmark score of 86/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
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 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 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
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.