Claude Opus 4.6
VS
Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 5: which wins at real work?
22 task areas · same graded test runs · rank comparison only, so 0–100 and Elo collections never mix raw scores.
Claude Opus 4.6 wins 14 of 22 task areas we tested; Claude Sonnet 5 takes 8. Claude Sonnet 5 costs 2.5× less per token ($12 vs $30 per 1M).
Claude Sonnet 5 costs 2.5× less per token ($12 vs $30 per 1M).
Task by task
| Task area | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Sonnet 5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative & Comedy | #10 / 110 | #79 / 110 | Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Executive Assistant |
#18
/ 112
Strong
|
#72
/ 112
Strong
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Content & Brand |
#14
/ 124
Strong
|
#67
/ 124
Strong
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Training & Education |
#1
/ 110
Excellent
|
#52
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Legal & HR |
#8
/ 110
Excellent
|
#57
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Knowledge & Docs |
#66
/ 110
Usable
|
#18
/ 110
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Translation & Localization |
#2
/ 110
Excellent
|
#41
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Presentations & Decks |
#54
/ 110
Excellent
|
#22
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Investor & Pitch |
#8
/ 66
Strong
|
#39
/ 66
Usable
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Structured Output |
#98
/ 113
Strong
|
#69
/ 113
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| RAG, Safety & Grounding |
#59
/ 113
Excellent
|
#86
/ 113
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Customer Support |
#81
/ 113
Usable
|
#57
/ 113
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Summarization & Meeting Notes |
#34
/ 110
Excellent
|
#58
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Chef / Home Cooking |
#12
/ 126
Strong
|
#28
/ 126
Usable
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Product & Project Management |
#45
/ 110
Strong
|
#61
/ 110
Strong
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Research & Competitive Analysis |
#29
/ 110
Strong
|
#15
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Coding |
#18
/ 115
Excellent
|
#6
/ 115
Excellent
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Sales |
#4
/ 110
Strong
|
#16
/ 110
Strong
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Landing Pages |
#23
/ 72
Strong
|
#12
/ 72
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Data & Analytics |
#10
/ 110
Excellent
|
#16
/ 110
Excellent
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| Frontend & Landing Pages |
#51
/ 109
Needs editing
|
#57
/ 109
Needs editing
|
Claude Opus 4.6 |
| AI Strategy |
#5
/ 126
Strong
|
#2
/ 126
Strong
|
Claude Sonnet 5 |
Rank = position among every model config we tested in that task area (lower is better). Sorted by biggest gap first.
Frequently asked
Is Claude Opus 4.6 better than Claude Sonnet 5?
Across 22 task areas we benchmarked, Claude Opus 4.6 ranks higher in 14 and Claude Sonnet 5 in 8.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.6 or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5 costs 2.5× less per token ($12 vs $30 per 1M).
What is Claude Opus 4.6 better at?
Claude Opus 4.6 out-ranks Claude Sonnet 5 at Creative & Comedy, Executive Assistant, Content & Brand.
What is Claude Sonnet 5 better at?
Claude Sonnet 5 out-ranks Claude Opus 4.6 at Knowledge & Docs, Presentations & Decks, Structured Output.
More comparisons
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Prompt × model results
12 test cases · 3 evals