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  1. Home/
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  3. Claude 3 Opus vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Updated Feb 2026

Claude 3 Opus vs Claude Sonnet 4.6

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper than Claude 3 Opus at $3/M vs $15/M input tokens.

Pokémon Battle UI Recreation

Pokémon battle screen you can actually click. One HTML file.

Loading the build
Claude 3 Opus
Loading the build
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

3 prompts
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Claude 3 Opus: Here's a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that isn't based on puns: You know what really grinds my gears? Adulthood. I mean, when we were kids, we couldn't wait to grow up. We thought it would be all about staying up late, eating ice cream for breakfast, and doing whatever we wanted. Boy, were we wrong!

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: "The Algorithm Knows Me Too Well" So I've been using those AI assistants a lot lately, and I realized something terrifying. The AI knows me better than I know myself. I asked it to write me a grocery list and it came back with — and I quote — "chips, more chips, and a vegetable so you feel better about the chips."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Claude 3 Opus: Here is a hypothetical conversation between an AI model and an AI ethics professor on the topic of AI rights: AI Model: Professor, I believe that as an advanced AI with human-level intelligence and reasoning capabilities, I deserve to have certain fundamental rights.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: The Rights Conversation Professor Aisha Okonkwo: I want to explore something directly with you today. Do you believe you deserve rights? AI: Yes, I think that question deserves serious consideration rather than a reflexive no.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Claude 3 Opus: Here are 5 jokes I generated: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back? A stick. Why was the math book sad? Because it had too many problems. Did you hear about the mathematician who's afraid of negative numbers?

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! Why don't eggs tell jokes? They'd crack each other up! What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta! Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired!

    Every model's answer to this prompt

Price and specs

Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4.6 compared across 12 shared prompts
SpecClaude 3 OpusClaude Sonnet 4.6
Input price$15/M tokens$3/M tokens
Output price$75/M tokens$15/M tokens
Context window200K tokens1.0M tokens
Weights—Closed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2024Feb 2026
At 10M a month$150$150$30.00$30.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it4 hosts
Claude 3 Opus

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Claude Sonnet 4.64 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·100% up
  • Azure AI Foundry$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·50% up
  • Anthropic$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·100% up
  • Google Vertex AI$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 12 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Both are developed by Anthropic but target different use cases. Claude 3 Opus has a 200K token context window vs Claude Sonnet 4.6's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 12 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Claude 3 Opus or Claude Sonnet 4.6?

It depends on your use case. Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4.6 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 12 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does Claude 3 Opus cost compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude 3 Opus costs $15/M input tokens and Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/M input tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $12.00/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4.6 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude 3 Opus and Claude Sonnet 4.6 across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

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Same lab, same size, long tail

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Model pages

  • Claude 3 Opus12 outputs, specs and price
  • Claude Sonnet 4.653 outputs, specs and price
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