Claude 4 Opus vs Sonnet vs Haiku: Which Model Should You Use? (2025)
Claude 4 Opus vs Sonnet vs Haiku: Complete Comparison
Anthropic offers three Claude 4 models at different price and capability levels. Choosing the right one can save you money while getting the quality you need.
TL;DR: Use Opus for complex reasoning and coding. Sonnet for everyday tasks (best value). Haiku for high-volume, low-cost automation. Most users should start with Sonnet.
Model Comparison
| Feature | Opus 4 | Sonnet 4 | Haiku 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | Highest | Very High | Good |
| Speed | Slowest | Fast | Fastest |
| Context window | 200K | 200K | 200K |
| Input cost (per 1M tokens) | $15 | $3 | $0.25 |
| Output cost (per 1M tokens) | $75 | $15 | $1.25 |
| Coding | Best | Excellent | Good |
| Writing | Best | Excellent | Good |
| Analysis | Best | Very Good | Adequate |
| Best for | Complex tasks | Daily use | Automation |
When to Use Each Model
Claude Opus 4 — Maximum Intelligence
- Complex multi-step reasoning
- Large codebase refactoring
- Research analysis and synthesis
- Tasks where accuracy is critical
Claude Sonnet 4 — Best Value
- Everyday writing and editing
- Code generation and review
- Document analysis
- Customer-facing chatbots
Claude Haiku 4 — Speed and Cost
- High-volume classification
- Quick content generation
- Real-time chat applications
- Data extraction at scale
Cost Comparison Example
Processing 1,000 documents (avg 2K tokens each, 500 token output):
| Model | Cost | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Opus 4 | $67.50 | ~30 min |
| Sonnet 4 | $13.50 | ~15 min |
| Haiku 4 | $1.13 | ~5 min |
API pricing details: Claude API vs OpenAI API. Consumer plans: $20 plan comparison.
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