Claude Opus 4 vs Codestral
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 |
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 Opus 4 | Codestral | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 86 | 60 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 26pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 84 | 54 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 30pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 88 | 64 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 24pts |
| HumanEval | 96 | 82 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 14pts |
| BigCodeBench | 76 | 44 | Claude Opus 4 leads by 32pts |
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 | Codestral | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $3.08 | $0.04 | Codestral saves $3.04 (99%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $23.29 | $0.29 | Codestral saves $23.00 (99%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $116.44 | $1.43 | Codestral saves $115.01 (99%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $6.02 | $0.07 | Codestral saves $5.94 (99%) |
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 | 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 Opus 4
- + Best at complex reasoning
- + Strong system design
- + Excellent debugging
- - Expensive for bulk tasks
- - Slower response times
Codestral
- + Code-specialized
- + Very cheap
- - Narrow focus
Verdict
Codestral is cheaper at $0.300/M, but Claude Opus 4 scores higher on benchmarks (86 vs 60).
Choose Codestral for cost-sensitive projects, Claude Opus 4 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 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 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.