Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Claude Sonnet 4 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,455 vs 1,224), while Claude Sonnet 4 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (62.8%), while Claude 3.5 Haiku is more budget-friendly at $4/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
Previous cheap Claude. Haiku 4.5 is the current $1/$5 SKU.
First Sonnet 4 generation. Bridge between 3.5/3.7 and Sonnet 5.
Δ 231 Arena Elo pts
140 tok/s
$4 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.
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 Sonnet 4 | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | Claude Sonnet 4 (+231) | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | Claude Sonnet 4 (+18.4%) | ||
| SWE-bench | Claude Sonnet 4 (+26.6%) | ||
| GPQA Diamond | Claude Sonnet 4 (+22.3%) | ||
| Time to first token | Claude 3.5 Haiku (+110 ms) | ||
| Output speed | 140 tok/s | 92 tok/s | Claude 3.5 Haiku (+48 tok/s) |
| Input price | $0.8/1M | Claude 3.5 Haiku (+$2.2/1M) | |
| Output price | Claude 3.5 Haiku (+$11/1M) | ||
| Context window | Claude Sonnet 4 (+800k) |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated to save $242.00/month ($2,904/year).
Higher SWE-bench (62.8%).
Lower output list price ($4/1M).
Lower TTFT (110 ms).
Larger window (1M).
Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4).
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Claude Sonnet 4 | Higher SWE-bench (62.8%). |
| High-volume chat | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Lower output list price ($4/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Lower TTFT (110 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Claude Sonnet 4 | Larger window (1M). |
| Screenshots / vision | Claude Sonnet 4 | Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4). |
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The real PNG is generated at /compare/claude-3-5-haiku-vs-claude-sonnet-4/opengraph-image for crawlers.
Verified head-to-head card
