Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Claude Haiku 4.5 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,438 vs 1,224), while Claude Haiku 4.5 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (58.2%), while Claude 3.5 Haiku is more budget-friendly at $4/1M per 1M output tokens, while Claude Haiku 4.5 provides faster response streaming (175 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
8 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Previous cheap Claude. Haiku 4.5 is the current $1/$5 SKU.
Anthropic cheap/fast Claude SKU. Official Claude Platform list price $1/$5 per 1M tokens (Anthropic Haiku page).
Δ 214 Arena Elo pts
175 tok/s
$4 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +214 | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | +17.6% | ||
| SWE-bench | +22% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +19.9% | ||
| Time to first token | +15 ms | ||
| Output speed | 140 tok/s | 175 tok/s | +35 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.8/1M | +$0.2/1M | |
| Output price | +$1/1M | ||
| Context window | — |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated to save $22.00/month ($264/year).
Higher SWE-bench (58.2%).
Lower output list price ($4/1M).
Lower TTFT (95 ms).
Larger window (200k).
Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Haiku 4.5).
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Higher SWE-bench (58.2%). |
| High-volume chat | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Lower output list price ($4/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Lower TTFT (95 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Larger window (200k). |
| Screenshots / vision | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Haiku 4.5). |
$1/$5 hosted Claude vs a cheap long-context open sibling. The alternative-to-Sonnet pair that is honest.
Huge window, cheap hosted lists. The Haiku alternative that is actually open-weight.
Official Anthropic list $1/$5. This is the SKU behind “cheapest Claude alternative” that is still Claude.
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