GPT-5.1 Codex vs Claude 4.5 Haiku

1. Purpose-Built for Agentic Coding

• Designed specifically for environments where the model acts as an autonomous or semi-autonomous coding agent.
• Optimized for multi-step reasoning in code tasks such as planning, refactoring, debugging, file generation, and tool coordination.

2. Enhanced Coding Intelligence

• Extends GPT-5.1's advanced reasoning capabilities to handle complex software architecture decisions.
• Better accuracy in code generation across languages (JavaScript, Python, TypeScript, Go, Rust, etc.).
• Produces cleaner, more idiomatic code aligned with modern frameworks and best practices.

3. Superior Tool Use & Code Navigation

• Excels at reading, understanding, and transforming multi-file codebases.
• Works well with Codex workflows that simulate real developer tooling.
• Strong at following function signatures, constraints, and code patterns within an existing project.

4. Long-Range Context Awareness

• 400,000-token context window enables the model to ingest large repositories or multiple files simultaneously.
• Supports deep analysis of project structures, dependencies, and cross-file logic.

5. Multi-Modal Development Capabilities

• Accepts text + image input and output - suitable for tasks like:
  • Reading UI mockups or screenshots to generate code
  • Understanding architectural diagrams
  • Reviewing images of whiteboard sessions

6. Agentic Workflow Optimization

• Built to manage longer chains of thought and execution typically required in:
  • Automated code repair
  • Project bootstrapping
  • Linting and migration tasks
  • Long-running coding agents using planning + execution loops

7. Continually Updated Model Snapshot

• Codex-specific version receives regular upgrades behind the scenes.
• Ensures the latest coding improvements without requiring developers to update model names.

8. Reliable Instruction Following

• Highly consistent in honoring explicit constraints:
  • Code styles
  • Folder structures
  • API contracts
  • Framework conventions

9. Broad API Support

• Works across Chat Completions, Responses API, Realtime, Assistants, and more.
• Ideal for apps that need live, reasoning-heavy coding agents or generative dev environments.

1. Frontier-level coding at small-model speed

• Similar coding performance to Claude Sonnet 4 at one-third the cost.
• Runs 4-5x faster than Sonnet 4.5 for many tasks.
• Ideal for real-time pair programming, prototyping, and rapid iteration.

2. Excellent computer-use abilities

• Surpasses Claude Sonnet 4 in certain computer-control tasks.
• Great for agents requiring low-latency tool use (Chrome automation, coding agents, etc.).

3. Perfect for real-time, low-latency applications

• Chat assistants
• Customer support agents
• Interactive development loops
• Multi-agent orchestration

4. Works seamlessly with Sonnet 4.5 in hybrid agent setups

• Sonnet 4.5 plans complex workflows.
• Haiku 4.5 executes subtasks in parallel for speed and cost-efficiency.

5. High alignment & safest Claude model by metric

• Lower misaligned behavior rates than Haiku 3.5, Sonnet 4.5, and Opus 4.1.
• Limited CBRN risk → released under AI Safety Level 2 (ASL-2).