# Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 5

As of November 10, 2026, Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs 50% more per input token than Claude Sonnet 5 ($3.00 vs $2.00 per 1M), and both have a 1M-token context window.

- Page: https://models.litellm.ai/compare/claude-sonnet-4-6-vs-claude-sonnet-5
- Claude Sonnet 4.6: https://models.litellm.ai/models/claude-sonnet-4-6
- Claude Sonnet 5: https://models.litellm.ai/models/claude-sonnet-5

## Side by side

| | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $3.00 | $2.00 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $15.00 | $10.00 |
| Cache read, per 1M tokens | $0.30 | $0.20 |
| Cache write, per 1M tokens | $3.75 | $2.50 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Image input | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output (JSON) | Yes | Yes |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Providers on LiteLLM | 10 | 11 |
| Price shown is from | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Added to LiteLLM | February 2026 | June 30, 2026 |

Headline prices in USD per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM's model price file.

## Cheapest provider for each

- Claude Sonnet 4.6: Databricks at $3.00 input per 1M tokens (`databricks/databricks-claude-sonnet-4-6`)
- Claude Sonnet 5: Databricks at $2.00 input per 1M tokens (`databricks/databricks-claude-sonnet-5`)

## Benchmark scores

| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index (Overall) | 152.8 | 156.7 |
| FrontierCode (Coding and agents) | 24.3% | 42.7% |
| APEX-Agents (Coding and agents) | 43.0% (high) | 54.5% |
| GPQA Diamond (Reasoning and knowledge) | 87.4% (32K) | 90.5% (xhigh) |
| SimpleQA Verified (Reasoning and knowledge) | 35.5% (high) | 33.7% (max) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 (Math) | 85.8% (32K) | 94.7% (xhigh) |

From the Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub (https://epoch.ai/benchmarks), CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), data as of August 27, 2026: Epoch's own runs and results it collects from each benchmark's leaderboard. Higher is better.

## When to pick which

- Claude Sonnet 5: Costs 33% less per input token: $2.00 vs $3.00 per 1M.

## FAQ

### Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Claude Sonnet 5?

Claude Sonnet 5 is cheaper at 3 input tokens per output token: $4.00 per 1M tokens blended ($2.00 input, $10.00 output), versus $6.00 ($3.00 and $15.00) for Claude Sonnet 4.6, as of November 10, 2026.

### Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Claude Sonnet 5?

Both have a 1,000,000-token context window.

### Can I switch from Claude Sonnet 4.6 to Claude Sonnet 5 without changing my code?

Yes. Through LiteLLM both use the OpenAI format, so switching means changing the model name from "claude-sonnet-4-6" to "claude-sonnet-5", or pointing a LiteLLM gateway model alias at the other model. You can also use one as a fallback for the other.