Claude 4 Sonnet vs Claude 4 Opus for Coding
Compare Claude 4 Sonnet by Anthropic and Claude 4 Opus by Anthropic for coding tasks - pricing, context windows, and strengths, and see how to put either to work in Appaca.
Claude 4 Sonnet
A balanced-hybrid reasoning model tuned for everyday assistant and high-volume tasks.
View Claude 4 SonnetClaude 4 Opus
The flagship model, focused on deep reasoning, large-scale coding and sustained multi-step agentic workflows.
View Claude 4 OpusClaude 4 Sonnet vs Claude 4 Opus at a glance
Specs and pricing side by side, from the Appaca AI models directory.
| Spec | Claude 4 Sonnet | Claude 4 Opus |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Anthropic |
| Model type | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 200K tokens |
| Input price | $3 / 1M tokens | $15 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $15 / 1M tokens | $75 / 1M tokens |
| Status | Superseded by Claude 4.5 Sonnet | Superseded by Claude 4.1 Opus |
What matters for Coding
Evaluation criteria and how Claude 4 Sonnet and Claude 4 Opus compare on what coding tasks actually require.
Code accuracy and correctness across languages
Debugging and error explanation quality
Context window size for large codebases
Agentic coding and autonomous task completion
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Claude 4 Sonnet is 80% cheaper on input tokens ($3 vs $15 per million), which adds up quickly on high-volume coding workloads.
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Claude 4 Sonnet is 80% cheaper on output tokens ($15 vs $75 per million) - the bigger factor for coding tasks that generate long responses.
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Claude 4 Sonnet's 1M tokens context window is roughly 5x larger than Claude 4 Opus's 200K tokens, so it can handle bigger inputs in a single coding pass.
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Claude 4 Sonnet has been superseded by Claude 4.5 Sonnet - for new coding builds, consider the newer model first.
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Claude 4 Opus has been superseded by Claude 4.1 Opus - for new coding builds, consider the newer model first.
Strengths side by side
Where each model shines, according to benchmarks and provider positioning.
Claude 4 Sonnet
- Hybrid reasoning: supports both fast (“near-instant”) and extended thinking modes.
- Optimised for responsiveness, cost and high-volume production workloads.
- Strong coding performance relative to prior Sonnet versions (improved over Sonnet 3.7).
- Available even in free tiers (alongside paid plans).
- Better suited for general-purpose use and agents where speed + cost-efficiency matter.
Claude 4 Opus
- Highest capability in the family: described as “our most powerful model yet” by Anthropic.
- Exceptional at long-running tasks requiring thousands of steps and sustained focus (e.g., continuous codebase work for hours).
- Excellent performance on benchmarks: e.g., SWE-bench 72.5 % and Terminal-bench 43.2 %.
- Designed for complex agentic workflows, deep reasoning, tool use, and large context windows.
- Placed under a higher safety classification (ASL-3) due to its frontier capability and risk profile.
Use Claude 4 Sonnet or Claude 4 Opus - or both
Appaca is the AI workspace for operators. Build internal coding tools and AI co-workers powered by Claude 4 Sonnet or Claude 4 Opus - connected to your real data and ready for your whole team. No code, no deployment.
Describe it, and it's built
Tell the Appaca agent the internal tool you need for coding and it builds a working app powered by Claude 4 Sonnet or Claude 4 Opus. No code, no API keys, no deployment.
Switch models without rebuilding
Start on Claude 4 Sonnet, test the same tool on Claude 4 Opus, and keep whichever performs better for your coding workflow - the rest of your app stays exactly as it is.
Automated for the whole team
Schedule tools to run on autopilot - daily digests, weekly reports, real-time triggers - and share them with your whole team from one workspace.
Describe it, and it's built
Tell the Appaca agent what your team needs for coding and it builds a working app powered by Claude 4 Sonnet or Claude 4 Opus - connected to the tools you already use.
Keep comparing for Coding
More side-by-side model comparisons for coding tasks.
FAQs
GPT-5.5 and Claude 4 Opus are the top-performing coding LLMs in 2026, leading on benchmarks like HumanEval and SWE-bench. GPT-5.5 excels at code completion and agentic task execution; Claude 4 Opus is preferred for complex reasoning and architectural decisions. Gemini 2.5 Pro is a strong third option, especially for Python-heavy workflows and multi-step reasoning tasks.
Claude 4 Sonnet is generally cheaper: $3 input / $15 output per million tokens, versus $15 / $75 for Claude 4 Opus. Actual cost depends on how many tokens your coding workload reads and writes.
Claude 4 Sonnet has the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared to 200K tokens for Claude 4 Opus. For coding tasks, a larger window means the model can consider more context at once without losing track.
Yes. Appaca is a no-code AI workspace: describe the internal tool your team needs for coding and the Appaca agent builds it as a working app powered by Claude 4 Sonnet, Claude 4 Opus, or any other model in the directory - with a built-in database, team access, and integrations. No API keys to wire up and nothing to deploy.
Build Coding tools with Claude 4 Sonnet or Claude 4 Opus
Describe the coding tool your team needs and get a working app powered by the model you choose - with a built-in database, team access, and integrations. No code, no deployment.