Claude 3 Opus
Unknown • Unknown
Context WindowUnknown
Knowledge CutoffUnknown
Claude 3 Opus vs Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Claude 3 Opus for highest-tier reasoning tasks, Claude 3.5 Sonnet for best value in the Claude family.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Anthropic • text+image+file->text
Context Window200K
Knowledge CutoffOct 22, 2024
Editorial Verdict
Claude 3 Opus is Anthropic's ceiling model; Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the best value for most production tasks.
Claude 3 Opus is Anthropic's highest capability model; Claude 3.5 Sonnet is their best value model with nearly the same capability on most tasks. For maximum quality on the hardest tasks, Claude 3 Opus wins. For everyday production workloads where quality is high but cost matters, Claude 3.5 Sonnet wins.
Claude 3 Opus
- Highest benchmark scores on the most complex reasoning and analysis tasks
- Better at maintaining coherence over extremely long conversations
- Preferred for research-grade analysis and high-stakes decision support
Best for: Research-grade analysis and maximum quality on the hardest tasks
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
- Nearly the same quality as Opus on most tasks at significantly lower cost
- Faster inference with better price-to-performance ratio
- Extended thinking mode available for complex tasks when needed
Best for: Cost-conscious production applications and everyday high-quality workloads
Pricing sourced from OpenRouter — updates as their catalog changes.
Pricing Comparison
All values pull from OpenRouter and update as their catalog changes.
| Metric | Claude 3 Opus | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input (per 1M tokens) | Custom | $6.00 | 🏆 Claude 3.5 Sonnet |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | Custom | $30.00 | 🏆 Claude 3.5 Sonnet |
| Request fee | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Image fee | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Cost Estimator
Estimate monthly billing using real OpenRouter prices.
Claude 3 Opus Total
VariableClaude 3.5 Sonnet Total
$660Savings unavailable (pricing not published for one model).
Capability Signals
Scores are directional estimates from model metadata — not official benchmark results.
Claude 3 OpusMMLU Signal (Reasoning)Claude 3.5 Sonnet
N/A
69%
Claude 3 OpusHumanEval Signal (Coding)Claude 3.5 Sonnet
N/A
76%
Claude 3 OpusAgentic Tooling SignalClaude 3.5 Sonnet
N/A
84%
Claude 3 OpusMultimodal SignalClaude 3.5 Sonnet
N/A
78%
Capabilities Matrix
Feature highlights for architecture and production fit.
Claude 3 Opus Strengths
- Live capability metadata is currently unavailable for this model.
- Re-check after the next OpenRouter catalog refresh.
- Use provider docs for exact benchmark claims.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet Strengths
- Supports image inputs for multimodal analysis workflows.
- Strong tool-calling and structured response support.
- Large context window for long documents and codebases.
API Implementation
Quick start snippets for each provider style.
Unknown (Python)
# Model metadata unavailable # See provider docs for API usage.
Anthropic (Python)
import anthropic
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
message = client.messages.create(
model="anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet",
max_tokens=1024,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
)
print(message.content)Choose Claude 3 Opus when...
- Use Claude 3 Opus when this provider is required by policy constraints.
- Validate performance with your own evaluation set before production rollout.
- Confirm final cost in the provider dashboard for your deployment region.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet when...
- Your application includes visual reasoning and image understanding tasks.
- You process large documents or code repositories in a single prompt.
- You rely on function calling, tool chaining, and structured output contracts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Practical checks before selecting a production model.
Is Claude 3 Opus better than Claude 3.5 Sonnet?
It depends on the workload. Claude 3 Opus and Claude 3.5 Sonnet differ in pricing, context window, and capability mix — see the side-by-side table above for the breakdown.
What's the price difference between Claude 3 Opus and Claude 3.5 Sonnet?
Claude 3 Opus: N/A per 1M input tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet: $6.00 per 1M input tokens. Output token pricing typically runs 2-5x higher.
Which model is better for coding?
Coding preference depends on your stack and tool-calling needs. Compare the coding signal row, test with your repository tasks, and validate latency in your target region.
Which model is cheaper at scale?
Input and output token pricing can diverge by workload profile. Use the estimator with your monthly request count and token mix to get a realistic cost difference.
Are these official benchmark numbers?
Pricing is live from OpenRouter. Benchmark rows are ModelsAtlas metadata-based signals and should be treated as directional guidance, not official leaderboard scores.
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