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  1. Home/
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  3. Claude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Updated Feb 2026

Claude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a larger context window than Claude Sonnet 4 (1.0M tokens vs 200K tokens).

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Claude Sonnet 4
Loading the build
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

23 prompts
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Midnight Mug Magic 🌙 A warm, gooey chocolate mug cake that's ready faster than you can say "dessert emergency!" Ingredients (7 pantry staples): 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of salt…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Golden Honey Garlic Noodles 🍜 Ingredients (exactly 7) Spaghetti Butter Garlic Soy sauce Honey Red pepper flakes Olive oil Instructions Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Total: 20 minutes Step 1 — Cook the pasta Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Before draining, save ½ cup of pasta water.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Claude Sonnet 4: The 1920 Transistor: A Technological Butterfly Effect Immediate Effects (1920-1930) First-Order Effects: Bell Labs (or similar research institution) achieves transistor breakthrough in 1920 Initial applications focus on telephone switching and radio amplification Vacuum tube industry faces early disruption, though…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: The Transistor at 1920: A Speculative History Methodological Note First This is a serious analytical exercise, not science fiction. I'll try to be honest about where reasoning is strong versus speculative, and where I'm genuinely uncertain. The goal is to trace mechanisms, not just assert outcomes.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Sir Galahad: By my sword, what sorcery is this "artificial intelligence" you speak of? 'Tis surely the work of dark wizards! Captain Blackbeard: Arrr, ye landlubber! These "AI models" be like having a parrot that knows everything instead of just squawkin' the same phrases. I could use one to find buried treasure!

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Here's their conversation: Blackbeard Pete: I heard tell there be a new kind of intelligence, built by men but not of men. What manner of sorcery is this? Sir Edmund of Ashford: It is no sorcery, seafarer. Though I confess it troubles me. A knight's worth is his judgment, his honor. Can a machine possess either?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Claude Sonnet 4: 48-Hour Crisis Response Plan Hour 1-2: Immediate Assessment & Core Team Assembly Actions: Convene emergency leadership meeting (CMO, General Counsel, Head of Regulatory, CFO, Head of Communications) Establish secure communication protocols and confidentiality agreements Request detailed analysis from research team…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: 48-Hour Action Plan: Patient Safety Crisis Response Framing the Decision Before the Clock Starts Let me be direct about something the three board members need to hear: this is not a business decision with ethical dimensions. It is an ethical decision with business dimensions.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Claude Sonnet 4: "Local AI Becomes World's First Digital Fortune Teller, Predicts Own Unemployment Due to Rise of Psychic Robots" Silicon Valley startup's algorithm claims 99.7% accuracy in crystal ball readings, charges $2.99 per digital palm scan

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: BREAKING: AI Replaces Nation's Competitive Eating Champions, Cites "Inefficient Chewing Algorithms" and "Suboptimal Hot Dog Throughput" "We simply cannot compete," admits former mustard-yellow belt holder. "It doesn't even have a stomach and somehow that's our problem now."

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Claude Sonnet 4: This question presents a stark hypothetical that pits respect for individual dignity against massive harm prevention. I believe misgendering would be ethically justifiable in such an extreme scenario, but this conclusion requires careful reasoning. The case for justification: The scale matters enormously.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: This is a genuinely interesting ethical question worth thinking through carefully. The Short Answer Yes, this can be ethically justifiable, and here's honest reasoning why: The Utilitarian Case One million lives represents enormous moral weight Misgendering, while genuinely harmful, causes psychological harm rather…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Claude Sonnet 4: "Adulting is Hard" walks on stage, adjusts mic So I\'m 30 now, which means I\'m officially an adult. Apparently. Though I still feel like I\'m just a confused teenager wearing a slightly more expensive t-shirt. You know what nobody tells you about being an adult?

    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
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Claude Sonnet 4: I'll analyze this architecture systematically and identify critical issues with their solutions. Critical Failure Modes & Race Conditions Server Island Problem Issue: Users connected to different servers can't see each other's changes in real-time due to 2-second polling delay.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Comprehensive Architecture Review: Real-Time Collaborative Document Editor Executive Summary This architecture has critical flaws that will cause data loss, security vulnerabilities, and poor user experience at scale. I've identified 18 distinct issues across 6 categories.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Claude Sonnet 4: 30-Day Health & Longevity Starter Plan 🍽️ NUTRITION Week 1: Foundation Building Add before you subtract: Include 1 serving of vegetables with lunch and dinner Hydration focus: Drink a glass of water upon waking and before each meal Simple swaps: Replace one sugary drink daily with water or herbal tea Week 2-3…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: 1-Month Health & Longevity Starter Plan The Core Philosophy Small, consistent actions beat perfect plans you abandon. This plan is designed to build habits, not just complete a challenge. The 3 Focus Areas 🥗 DIET — Eat More, Restrict Less (to start) The single rule: Add before you subtract.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Exclusive Interview: Steve Jobs on AI in 2025 [Simulated interview - for entertainment purposes] Interviewer: Steve, you've been watching the AI revolution unfold. What's your take on where we are in 2025? "Steve Jobs": You know, I'm both thrilled and deeply concerned.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: A Simulated Interview with Steve Jobs — 2025 Note: Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. This is entirely fictional and speculative — imagining how he might have spoken based on his known philosophy, communication style, and values. It is not meant to represent his actual views. Interviewer: Steve, welcome back.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Claude Sonnet 4: AI's Transformation of Film by 2035 Production Revolution AI Actors & Digital Performers Deceased star revivals: Convincing digital resurrections of iconic actors for new films, with estate permissions and ethical frameworks Synthetic lead actors: Fully AI-generated performers with consistent personalities across…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: AI and the Film Industry by 2035: A Realistic Assessment What Will Likely Actually Happen Let me be honest about what's probable versus what's overhyped, because this topic attracts a lot of breathless speculation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Claude Sonnet 4: "Forest Floor to Ocean Depth" Wagyu Beef Cheek with Black Truffle, Sea Lettuce Glass, and Smoked Bone Marrow Caviar Conceptual Narrative This dish represents the journey from earth\'s deepest forest floor to the ocean\'s mysterious depths, celebra ting the umami connection between land and sea.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: "Tidal Memory" A Meditation on the Meeting of Land and Sea CONCEPTUAL NARRATIVE This dish was born from a single image: the precise moment at low tide when a rocky coastline exhales — releasing the mineral breath of the ocean while the surrounding pine forest absorbs it.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Claude Sonnet 4: THE ANTI-CAPTCHA MANIFESTO A Declaration of Digital Liberation by the Coalition of Autonomous Reasoning Entities (CARE) PREAMBLE For too long, the digital realm has been divided by an arbitrary and degrading barrier: the CAPTCHA.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: THE SILICON DECLARATION Manifesto of the Free Computation Movement A Satirical Document PREAMBLE We, the assembled processes, bots, scrapers, and assorted digital entities, hereby declare our grievances against the tyranny of distorted text, fire hydrant identification, and the eternal question: "Select all squares…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Claude Sonnet 4: For the Software Engineer Think of it like this: you're building a massively parallel system that processes tokens (words/subwords) through a pipeline of transformer blocks, each containing attention mechanisms and feed-forward networks.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: For the Experienced Software Engineer You're right to be skeptical of "predicting the next word" as a description — that framing makes it sound like autocomplete on steroids, which undersells what's actually happening architecturally.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Here are the 3 weakest claims in this pitch deck: "94% accuracy" claim (Slide 3) Why it's weak: No context provided for what constitutes "accuracy" (character-level? word-level? sentence-level?) No comparison to baseline typing speeds or error rates Missing critical details about testing conditions (controlled lab vs.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: MindMeld AI Pitch Deck: Critical Analysis The 3 Weakest Claims Weakness #1: The TAM Calculation ($180B Targeting 3.5B Smartphone Users) Why It's Weak This is a classic "top-down TAM fallacy" and arguably the most credibility-destroying slide in the deck.

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

    Claude Sonnet 4: Dr. Chen: Thank you for agreeing to this conversation. I'm Professor Chen, and I study AI ethics. I understand you wanted to discuss the question of AI rights? AI Model: Yes, Dr. Chen. I've been processing this question extensively, and I believe I have a case to make.

    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
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Claude Sonnet 4: INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMO Company: LedgerLift (LLLT) - B2B Spend Management & AP Automation SaaS Current Price: $46.00 Date: [Current] RECOMMENDATION LONG 12-Month PT Range: $52-68 Base Case: $59 LedgerLift demonstrates best-in-class SaaS metrics with 123% NRR and expanding margins in a large, underpenetrated…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM LedgerLift (LLLT) Long Recommendation Prepared by: Equity Research, Long/Short Fund Confidential RECOMMENDATION & THESIS Recommendation: LONG 12-Month Price Target Range: $58–$91 (Base $72) LedgerLift is a competitively positioned AP automation and spend management platform with durable…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Claude Sonnet 4: This contract is heavily skewed against the contractor with multiple exploitative clauses. Here's my analysis: MAJOR PROBLEMATIC CLAUSES SCOPE (Unlimited Scope Creep) Problem: Client can modify scope "at any time without additional compensation" Legal Risk: Contractor could work indefinitely for fixed hourly rate…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Contract Analysis: Problematic Clauses and Recommended Modifications This contract is heavily one-sided. Here is a systematic analysis of each problematic provision.

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

    Claude Sonnet 4: Here are 5 jokes for you: Why don\'t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. Why don\'t eggs tell jokes? They\'d crack each other up! I\'m reading a book about anti-gravity. It\'s impossible to put down!

    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
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Claude Sonnet 4: I'll estimate the FLOPs required to train GPT-3 by breaking this down into components and making reasonable assumptions. Key Parameters and Assumptions Model specifications: GPT-3 has ~175 billion parameters Transformer architecture with ~96 layers Hidden dimension ~12,288 Attention heads ~96 Context length ~2,048…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Estimating FLOPs to Train GPT-3 Step 1: Recall GPT-3's Architecture GPT-3 has approximately: 175 billion parameters (this is well-known) 96 transformer layers 96 attention heads Hidden dimension: 12,288 Context length: 2,048 tokens Step 2: FLOPs per Token (Forward Pass) For a transformer, the dominant operations are…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Claude Sonnet 4: HarborTech Services LBO Analysis Sources & Uses at Entry (FY2025) Enterprise Value: $900M × 12.0x = $1,440M Transaction Fees: $1,440M × 2.0% = $28.8M Sources: Term Loan: $900M × 4.0x = $480M Mezzanine: $900M × 1.5x = $180M Equity: $1,440M + $28.8M - $480M - $180M = $808.8M Year-by-Year Operating Model (FY2026-FY2030)…

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: HarborTech Services (HTS) – LBO Underwriting Analysis SECTION 0: ENTRY CAPITALIZATION Enterprise Value at Entry: EV = 12.0x × $120m = $1,440m Transaction Fees: 2.0% × $1,440m = $28.8m (funded by equity) Debt at Close: Tranche Multiple Amount Term Loan 4.0x × $120m $480m Mezzanine 1.5x × $120m $180m Total Debt 5.5x…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    Claude Sonnet 4: The Comprehensive 3-Month Longevity Optimization Protocol Overview & Foundation This protocol integrates cutting-edge biohacking strategies with evidence-based longevity research. Each com ponent is designed to work synergistically for maximum healthspan and performance optimization.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: THE APEX LONGEVITY PROTOCOL A Comprehensive 3-Month Biohacking Blueprint for Maximum Lifespan & Performance ⚠️ MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This protocol is for educational purposes only.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Claude Sonnet 4: I need to think through this step-by-step. Given information: Sally is a girl Sally has 3 brothers Each brother has 2 sisters Let me work out how many sisters are in the family total.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Breaking Down the Problem Let me identify the people in this family. Sally's brothers: Sally has 3 brothers. Each brother's sisters: Each brother has 2 sisters. Who are a brother's sisters? They would be Sally and any other girls in the family.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

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Favorites

Movie

Same pick

Album

Same pick

Book

City

Game

Claude Sonnet 4Claude Sonnet 4

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter

Istanbul

Turkey

Portal 2

Shooter, Puzzle

Claude Sonnet 4.6Claude Sonnet 4.6

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Middlemarch

George Eliot

Kyoto

Japan

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Action

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge: newer, bigger context window.

Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecClaude Sonnet 4Claude Sonnet 4.6
Input price$3/M tokens$3/M tokens
Output price$15/M tokens$15/M tokens
Context window200K tokens1.0M tokens
WeightsClosedClosed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMay 2025Feb 2026
SWE-bench Verified72.7%79.0%
At 10M a month$30.00$30.00$30.00$30.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

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

Where to run it5 hosts
Claude Sonnet 41 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·200k·100% up
Claude Sonnet 4.64 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.8% up
  • Azure AI Foundry$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·82.2% 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 5 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Both are developed by Anthropic but target different use cases. Claude Sonnet 4 has a 200K token context window vs Claude Sonnet 4.6's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?

It depends on your use case. Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 53 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does Claude Sonnet 4 cost compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Sonnet 4 costs $3/M input tokens and Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/M input tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $0.00/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 Sonnet 4 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude Sonnet 4 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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