comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Claude Haiku 4.5
Token pricing, context window and real monthly cost, side by side. Claude Haiku 4.5 is the cheaper of the two for a typical workload — about 3.0× less.
Positioned by published specs — size, context and modality — not measured performance; a smaller model can sometimes outperform a larger one on your task.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is one class larger (Mid vs Mini). Lean to the cheaper Claude Haiku 4.5 unless your task is demanding enough to need the larger class.
| metric | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Claude Haiku 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $3.00 | $1.00 |
| Output / 1M | $15.00 | $5.00 |
| Context | 1M | 200K |
| Technical class | Mid | Mini |
| Cost @ typical workload | $2,400/mo | $800/mo |
| Modality | text + image | text + image |
| Price source | list | list |
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
Snapshot . Cost uses a typical workload; tune it in the calculator. How we measure →
Which should you pick?
On a typical workload, Claude Haiku 4.5 costs $800/mo against Claude Sonnet 4.6's $2,400/mo — roughly 3.0× cheaper. But the ranking depends on your output-to-input ratio: output is the pricier direction for both, so an output-heavy job (code generation, long answers) widens the gap while an input-heavy one (summarization, retrieval) narrows it. If you need to fit more in a single prompt, Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger 1M-token window (~1,500 pages). By technical class (size and context, not measured capability), Claude Sonnet 4.6 is a Mid and Claude Haiku 4.5 a Mini — so the lower price partly reflects a smaller class, not just a discount.
These are list and routed market prices, not measured outcomes. Two models at the same rate can still cost different amounts to finish the same task, because verbose or reasoning-heavy models emit more tokens. That gap is exactly what measured cost-per-task captures. The technical-class read above is likewise spec-based — size, context and modality, not measured performance — so a smaller model can still outperform a larger one on your specific task.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Claude Haiku 4.5 cheaper?
For a typical workload (1,500 input + 500 output tokens × 200,000 requests/month), Claude Haiku 4.5 costs $800/mo versus $2,400/mo for Claude Sonnet 4.6 — about 3.0× less. Because output is priced higher than input, the winner can flip if your workload writes much more or less than this; check your own numbers in the calculator.
What's the difference between Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Claude Haiku 4.5 from Anthropic?
Same provider, different tier. On price, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $3.00/$15.00 per 1M (in/out) and Claude Haiku 4.5 is $1.00/$5.00. By technical class (size & context) it's Mid (Claude Sonnet 4.6) versus Mini (Claude Haiku 4.5). Claude Sonnet 4.6 carries the larger 1M-token context.
Why is Claude Haiku 4.5 so much cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Haiku 4.5 has a much lower per-token rate — $5.00/1M output versus $15.00, and it's a smaller technical class (Mini vs Mid). The headline rate isn't the whole story, though: a verbose model can cost more to finish a task than its rate implies — that's what measured cost-per-task captures.
Which handles longer prompts, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Claude Haiku 4.5?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 — its 1M-token context window (~1,500 pages of text) is the larger of the two, by roughly 5×.
More comparisons
- GPT-5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
- GPT-5.4 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
- GPT-5.4 vs Claude Haiku 4.5
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4 mini
- Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GPT-5.4 mini
- Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GPT-5.4 nano
Related
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Claude Haiku 4.5 — full specs and price history.
- API cost calculator — compare on your own workload.
- All comparisons — the full head-to-head index.