Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
Both are from Anthropic, released within months of each other, and share the same fundamental model DNA. Claude Opus 4.6 is more capable. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is meaningfully cheaper. The question is whether the quality gap justifies a 67% price premium.
Last updated: February 2026
Our Pick
Claude Sonnet 4.6
For most use cases, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the right choice. It delivers around 90% of Opus's capability at a significantly lower price — $3/1M input vs $5/1M, or $20/month Pro vs $100/month Max for consumer access. The output gap is real but only noticeable on the most demanding tasks: complex multi-step reasoning, high-stakes creative writing, and long agentic workflows. For everyday use, Sonnet is the better deal.
Try Claude Sonnet 4.6At a glance
| Feature | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 7.5 / 10 | 8.0 / 10 |
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 200K tokens |
| Input (per 1M tokens) | $5 | $3 |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | $25 | $15 |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | No |
Use case breakdown
Opus produces cleaner, more controlled prose with better style adherence on nuanced requests. The difference is noticeable on demanding creative work.
AA Index 46 vs 44.33 — Opus scores higher and maintains accuracy better over long reasoning chains.
Emails, summaries, coding help, research — Sonnet handles all of these at a quality level that is indistinguishable from Opus for most users.
$3/$15 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25. Sonnet is 40–67% cheaper depending on whether your workload is input-heavy or output-heavy.
Claude Pro ($20/month) gives full Sonnet access. Opus requires the Max plan at $100/month — 5× more expensive.
On long multi-step tasks where the model must track many constraints simultaneously, Opus makes fewer mistakes. Worth the premium for production agents.
FAQ
Is Claude Opus 4.6 worth the price over Sonnet?
For most users, no. Sonnet 4.6 handles everyday writing, coding, and analysis tasks at a quality level most users cannot distinguish from Opus. The premium is worth it for high-stakes creative work, complex analytical tasks, or production agentic workflows where Opus's higher accuracy genuinely matters.
What is the difference between Claude Opus and Claude Sonnet?
Claude Opus 4.6 scores 46 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index; Sonnet 4.6 scores 44.33 — a real but modest gap. The bigger difference is price: Opus costs $5/1M input tokens and requires the $100/month Max plan for consumer access. Sonnet costs $3/1M and is available on the $20/month Pro plan.
Is there a free tier for Claude Opus 4.6?
No. Claude Opus 4.6 requires the Max plan ($100/month) for consumer access, or direct API use at $5/$25 per 1M tokens. The free claude.ai tier uses Sonnet 4.6 only.