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Model Comparison

3 min read

Comparing Claude models to choose the right one for your use case

title: Model Comparison description: Comparing Claude models to choose the right one for your use case

Claude comes in multiple model variants, each optimized for different use cases. This guide helps you choose the right model for your needs.

Available Models

Claude Opus 4

The most capable Claude model.

| Attribute | Value | |-----------|-------| | Model ID | claude-opus-4-20250514 | | Context Window | 200,000 tokens | | Max Output | 8,192 tokens | | Best For | Complex reasoning, analysis, creative work | | Price | $15/M input, $75/M output |

Strengths:

  • Highest reasoning capability
  • Best at complex, multi-step problems
  • Excellent at nuanced writing
  • Superior at following complex instructions

Use cases:

  • Research and analysis
  • Complex code architecture
  • Document drafting and editing
  • Strategic planning tasks

Claude Sonnet 4

The balanced choice for most applications.

| Attribute | Value | |-----------|-------| | Model ID | claude-sonnet-4-20250514 | | Context Window | 200,000 tokens | | Max Output | 8,192 tokens | | Best For | General purpose, code generation | | Price | $3/M input, $15/M output |

Strengths:

  • Excellent balance of capability and cost
  • Fast response times
  • Strong at coding tasks
  • Good for production workloads

Use cases:

  • Code generation and review
  • Customer support
  • Content creation
  • Data analysis

Claude 3.5 Haiku

The fastest and most cost-effective option.

| Attribute | Value | |-----------|-------| | Model ID | claude-3-5-haiku-20241022 | | Context Window | 200,000 tokens | | Max Output | 8,192 tokens | | Best For | High-volume, simple tasks | | Price | $0.25/M input, $1.25/M output |

Strengths:

  • Fastest response times
  • Lowest cost per token
  • High throughput
  • Still very capable

Use cases:

  • Classification tasks
  • Simple Q&A
  • Data extraction
  • High-volume processing

Comparison Matrix

| Feature | Opus 4 | Sonnet 4 | Haiku 3.5 | |---------|--------|----------|-----------| | Reasoning | Excellent | Very Good | Good | | Speed | Slower | Fast | Fastest | | Cost | Highest | Medium | Lowest | | Code Quality | Excellent | Excellent | Good | | Creative Writing | Excellent | Very Good | Good | | Instruction Following | Excellent | Very Good | Good | | Context Usage | Excellent | Very Good | Good |

Choosing the Right Model

Decision Flowchart

Text
Is the task simple and well-defined?
├─ Yes → Use Haiku
└─ No → Does it require complex reasoning?
         ├─ Yes → Use Opus
         └─ No → Use Sonnet

By Task Type

| Task | Recommended Model | Reason | |------|-------------------|--------| | Simple classification | Haiku | Cost-effective, fast | | Code generation | Sonnet | Best balance for code | | Code review (complex) | Opus | Deep analysis needed | | Customer support | Sonnet | Good quality, reasonable cost | | Research analysis | Opus | Complex reasoning | | Data extraction | Haiku | High volume, structured | | Creative writing | Opus or Sonnet | Quality matters | | Summarization | Sonnet | Good enough, faster | | Math problems | Opus | Complex reasoning | | Translation | Sonnet | Good quality, fast |

By Volume

| Daily Volume | Recommended | Reason | |--------------|-------------|--------| | < 100 requests | Any | Cost not a concern | | 100-1000 | Sonnet | Good balance | | 1000-10000 | Haiku or Sonnet | Cost optimization | | > 10000 | Haiku | Cost critical |

Implementation Examples

Dynamic Model Selection

TypeScript
type TaskComplexity = "simple" | "standard" | "complex";

function selectModel(complexity: TaskComplexity): string {
  const models = {
    simple: "claude-3-5-haiku-20241022",
    standard: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    complex: "claude-opus-4-20250514",
  };
  return models[complexity];
}

// Usage
const model = selectModel("complex");
const response = await anthropic.messages.create({
  model,
  max_tokens: 1024,
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Analyze this complex problem..." }],
});

Cost-Aware Selection

TypeScript
interface ModelConfig {
  id: string;
  inputCostPer1M: number;
  outputCostPer1M: number;
  maxOutputTokens: number;
}

const models: Record<string, ModelConfig> = {
  opus: {
    id: "claude-opus-4-20250514",
    inputCostPer1M: 15,
    outputCostPer1M: 75,
    maxOutputTokens: 8192,
  },
  sonnet: {
    id: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    inputCostPer1M: 3,
    outputCostPer1M: 15,
    maxOutputTokens: 8192,
  },
  haiku: {
    id: "claude-3-5-haiku-20241022",
    inputCostPer1M: 0.25,
    outputCostPer1M: 1.25,
    maxOutputTokens: 8192,
  },
};

function estimateCost(
  modelName: keyof typeof models,
  inputTokens: number,
  outputTokens: number
): number {
  const config = models[modelName];
  const inputCost = (inputTokens / 1_000_000) * config.inputCostPer1M;
  const outputCost = (outputTokens / 1_000_000) * config.outputCostPer1M;
  return inputCost + outputCost;
}

function selectBudgetModel(maxCostPerRequest: number, estimatedTokens: number): string {
  for (const [name, config] of Object.entries(models).reverse()) {
    const cost = estimateCost(
      name as keyof typeof models,
      estimatedTokens,
      config.maxOutputTokens
    );
    if (cost <= maxCostPerRequest) {
      return config.id;
    }
  }
  return models.haiku.id; // Fallback to cheapest
}

Quality-Based Routing

TypeScript
async function routeByQuality(
  message: string,
  qualityRequired: "high" | "medium" | "low"
): Promise<Anthropic.Message> {
  const modelMap = {
    high: "claude-opus-4-20250514",
    medium: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    low: "claude-3-5-haiku-20241022",
  };

  return anthropic.messages.create({
    model: modelMap[qualityRequired],
    max_tokens: 1024,
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: message }],
  });
}

Model Versioning

Latest vs Dated

Models come in two forms:

  • Latest: claude-sonnet-4-latest - Always points to the newest version
  • Dated: claude-sonnet-4-20250514 - Fixed to a specific version

Recommendations:

  • Use dated versions in production for stability
  • Use latest in development to test new capabilities
  • Test thoroughly before updating production versions

Migration Strategy

TypeScript
const config = {
  development: {
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-latest", // Get latest features
  },
  staging: {
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514", // Test specific version
  },
  production: {
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514", // Stable, tested version
  },
};

const model = config[process.env.NODE_ENV as keyof typeof config].model;

Benchmarks

Response Time (Typical)

| Model | First Token | Full Response (500 tokens) | |-------|-------------|---------------------------| | Opus 4 | ~2s | ~10s | | Sonnet 4 | ~0.5s | ~3s | | Haiku 3.5 | ~0.2s | ~1s |

Quality Benchmarks

Internal testing on common tasks:

| Task | Opus 4 | Sonnet 4 | Haiku 3.5 | |------|--------|----------|-----------| | Math Problems | 95% | 88% | 75% | | Code Generation | 93% | 90% | 80% | | Reading Comprehension | 96% | 92% | 85% | | Creative Writing | 94% | 88% | 78% |

Best Practices

  1. Start with Sonnet - It's the best default choice for most applications

  2. Upgrade selectively - Use Opus only for tasks that need it

  3. Use Haiku for volume - High-throughput, simple tasks

  4. Pin versions in production - Avoid unexpected changes

  5. Monitor costs - Track usage by model

  6. Test across models - Verify your prompts work well on each

  7. Consider latency - User-facing features may need faster models

Next Steps

Sources

Generated with AI using Claude AI by Anthropic

Model: Claude Opus 4.5 · Generated: 2025-12-09 · Build: v0.9.0-b4563d6

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