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Compare Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6: Lightweight Utility vs Coding Precision

Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6: which should I use?

Claude Haiku 4.5 provides high-throughput classification and rapid answers ($1.00/$5.00 per million tokens), while Claude Sonnet 4.6 delivers deep coding precision and agentic tool reliability ($3.00/$15.00 per million tokens). Verified 2026-09-07.

Verified 2026-09-07

Which tasks fit Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Best-fit task signals from the published model strengths; this is not a substitute for a controlled benchmark.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Best fitLightweight, high-volume operations like chat, tagging, and moderation.Enterprise workloads that need Opus-adjacent quality at Sonnet pricing.
Reasoning modeUnavailableAvailable

What does a Coding Agent workload cost with Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Modeled for Coding Agent: 20,000 input + 2,000 output tokens per task, 1 turn. This is a workload model, not a provider quote.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Coding Agent / task$0.03 (modeled) (winner)$0.09 (modeled)
Input / output rate$1.00 / $5.00 per M$3.00 / $15.00 per M

How fast are Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Only non-estimated benchmark results are shown as measured.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Measured throughput148 tokens/s (winner)76 tokens/s
Time to first token260 ms360 ms

How compatible are Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 with APIs?

Provider-level wire-format and SDK facts; model-specific parameter differences may still apply.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
OpenAI SDKNot drop-inNot drop-in
Request shapeMessages API — system prompt is a top-level field, not a message role, and max_tokens is required on every call.Messages API — system prompt is a top-level field, not a message role, and max_tokens is required on every call.
StreamingSSE (Anthropic content-block events)SSE (Anthropic content-block events)

What are the privacy and retention policies for Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Provider policy and residency facts from the verified provider registry. A missing retention policy is not treated as a guarantee.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Provider says API data trains modelsNoNo
Published retention periodUnavailableUnavailable
Data residencyUnavailableUnavailable

How much effort does it take to migrate between Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Direction is from each displayed model to the other. Effort is derived from provider compatibility and published parameter maps.

FactClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Move Claude Haiku 4.5 → Claude Sonnet 4.6drop-in; 0 breaking parameter differencesTarget: Claude Sonnet 4.6
Move Claude Sonnet 4.6 → Claude Haiku 4.5Source: Claude Sonnet 4.6drop-in; 0 breaking parameter differences
WhySame provider; only the model identifier changes.Same provider; only the model identifier changes.

Batch 52 · exact pair decision and evidence contributions. Surface verification: 2026-09-01. These three boards are server-rendered from frozen fixtures; assumptions and unavailable joins are not observations.

Exact pair boundary: requested models are claude-haiku-4-5 and claude-sonnet-4-6. A broad provider, pricing, task, or rate-limit verdict is out of scope.

Haiku/Sonnet hard-requirement admission gate

Frozen Batch 52 fixture board. Formula / decision rule: qualifies = every required context/output/modality/control is documented for exact model; unknown => Unknown Boundary: This is an exact-pair admission gate, not a broad cheapest-Claude or task recommendation.

Frozen fixture / field IDJoined fields and evidenceOutputState
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r1
classification
required=text; input=8K; output=1K; reasoning=not required; schema=JSON; Haiku=Unresolved; Sonnet=Unresolvedminimal tier=Unavailable until schema/cap evidence joinsUNKNOWN — exact support join
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r2
support chat
required=text; input=4K; output=1K; latency=SLO; tools=none; evidence=local requiredtier selection=Unavailable without paired SLO and quality evidenceUNAVAILABLE — paired SLO
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r3
180K extraction
required=text+strict schema; input=180K; output=4K; context=exactHaiku/Sonnet eligibility=Unavailable until ceilings joinUNAVAILABLE — context join
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r4
600K repository
required=text+tools+schema; input=600K; output=8K; tools=repositoryHaiku may be ineligible, but exact ceiling/tool proof is requiredUNKNOWN — exact envelope
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r5
extended-reasoning plan
required=thinking; budget=declared; output=4K; evidence=exact controlminimal qualifying tier=Unavailable until thinking support joinsUNAVAILABLE — reasoning control
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r6
computer-use
required=computer-use modality+action tool; side_effects=contained; support=Unknowndo not infer either tier’s supportUNKNOWN — modality/control

Provenance: Batch 52 claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6, first-party evidence, surface verification date 2026-09-01. Anthropic Claude model documentation. Missing joins fail closed.

High-volume cascade receipt

Frozen Batch 52 fixture board. Formula / decision rule: expected cost/latency = base Haiku path + trigger rate × Sonnet path; missing trigger rate => Unavailable Boundary: Rate and latency values are exact-owner inputs; scenario trigger rates are not observed reliability.

Frozen fixture / field IDJoined fields and evidenceOutputState
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r1
Haiku-only
route=Haiku; tokens=declared; input/output rates=dated pricing owner; latency=local measurement requiredbaseline cost=rate × tokens; exact value=owner joinBASELINE — Haiku-only
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r2
Sonnet-only
route=Sonnet; tokens=declared; rates=dated pricing owner; latency=local measurement requiredbaseline cost=rate × tokens; exact value=owner joinBASELINE — Sonnet-only
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r3
Haiku-then-Sonnet
route=Haiku→Sonnet; trigger_rate=assumption; attempt_cap=2; token carry-forward=declaredexpected pair cost/latency=Unavailable until trigger rate observedASSUMPTION ONLY — measure trigger
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r4
confidence-triggered escalation
signal=confidence threshold; threshold=user input; trigger_rate=missing; schema=validselected route=Unavailable without trigger distributionUNAVAILABLE — trigger-rate missing
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r5
schema-failure escalation
signal=invalid JSON; repair=one attempt; Sonnet fallback=declared; failure rate=missingattempt cap=2; expected cost=UnavailableCONTAINED — one fallback
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r6
missing-trigger-rate
signal=confidence/schema; rate=missing; latency=missing; provider=Anthropic exactdo not estimate cascade economicsFAIL CLOSED — no trigger evidence

Provenance: Batch 52 claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6, first-party evidence, surface verification date 2026-09-01. Anthropic pricing. Missing joins fail closed.

Escalation coverage and failure-containment board

Frozen Batch 52 fixture board. Formula / decision rule: terminal action = detect signal → bounded retry if capable → Sonnet or human gate; no endless same-prompt loop Boundary: A Sonnet capability delta must be exact and observed; escalation is not a substitute for human review.

Frozen fixture / field IDJoined fields and evidenceOutputState
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r1
low-confidence label
signal=confidence<floor; Haiku retry=may help only with changed prompt; Sonnet delta=Unresolved; review=requiredone changed retry, then Sonnet or human reviewCONTAINED — bounded retry
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r2
invalid JSON
signal=schema validation; Haiku retry=one repair; Sonnet schema support=Unresolved; max_attempts=2repair once; escalate or human-review; no loopCONTAINED — schema failure
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r3
context overflow
signal=provider error; Haiku retry=same prompt cannot help; Sonnet context=exact join requiredchunk, route only if documented, otherwise human/queueTERMINAL — do not repeat same prompt
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r4
unsupported control
signal=parameter rejection; Haiku retry=same control cannot help; Sonnet support=Unknownremove only with explicit client policy; otherwise blockBLOCKED — control mismatch
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r5
tool error
signal=tool schema/transport error; Haiku retry=bounded; Sonnet capability delta=Unresolved; side_effects=containedretry once if idempotent, then human/operator gateCONTAINED — idempotency required
batch52-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r6
repeated semantic failure
signal=two failed outputs; same prompt retry=forbidden; max_attempts=2; human=requiredstop model loop and send to human reviewTERMINAL — loop stopped

Provenance: Batch 52 claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6, first-party evidence, surface verification date 2026-09-01. Anthropic Claude model documentation. Missing joins fail closed.

Method and limitations: calculations use only the displayed deterministic rule and visibly labeled assumptions. Missing provider, host, alias, version, effort, tool, modality, benchmark, workload, rate-period, or date joins fail closed. Run the claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6 Batch 52 scenario →

Batch 65 · exact-pair decision contributions · verified 2026-09-07

Exact pair boundary: Anthropic; same provider, tier escalation, fast classification vs capable coding, and token pricing must join. Requested models are claude-haiku-4-5 and claude-sonnet-4-6. Provider, rate, pricing, and task pages remain fact owners.

Token pricing and 3x enterprise tariff expenditure board

Frozen Batch 65 scenario board. Formula / deterministic rule: monthly_spend = calls * ((in_tokens * rate_in + out_tokens * rate_out) / 1M) Boundary: Owns base token tariff comparisons and workload expenditure modeling.

Frozen scenario / field IDPair, identity, host, surface, and evidence fieldsResultState
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r1
25K customer inquiry classifications
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=25K customer inquiry classifications; workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 25K customer inquiry classifications is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r2
100K structured data extraction tasks
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=100K structured data extraction tasks; workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 100K structured data extraction tasks is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r3
250K automated customer replies
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=250K automated customer replies; workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 250K automated customer replies is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r4
prompt caching active (Haiku $0.10/M / Sonnet $0.30/M read)
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=prompt caching active (Haiku $0.10/M / Sonnet $0.30/M read); workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — prompt caching active (Haiku $0.10/M / Sonnet $0.30/M read) is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r5
batch processing active (50% both)
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=batch processing active (50% both); workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — batch processing active (50% both) is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m1-r6
unresolved pricing currency
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=unresolved pricing currency; workload; prompt tokens; completion tokens; Haiku 4.5 spend; Sonnet 4.6 spend; budget delta; cost winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — unresolved pricing currency has no matched, dated bilateral observation.FAIL CLOSED — manual, probe, or source evidence required

First-party provenance: Anthropic API pricing; verification date 2026-09-07. Missing or conflicting joins fail closed.

Two-tier escalation architecture and routing cost savings

Frozen Batch 65 scenario board. Formula / deterministic rule: blended_cost = haiku_volume * haiku_cost + sonnet_volume * sonnet_cost Boundary: Owns two-tier architectural routing between fast triage and deep reasoning.

Frozen scenario / field IDPair, identity, host, surface, and evidence fieldsResultState
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r1
100% Haiku 4.5 baseline
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=100% Haiku 4.5 baseline; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 100% Haiku 4.5 baseline is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r2
90% Haiku triage / 10% Sonnet escalation
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=90% Haiku triage / 10% Sonnet escalation; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 90% Haiku triage / 10% Sonnet escalation is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r3
75% Haiku triage / 25% Sonnet escalation
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=75% Haiku triage / 25% Sonnet escalation; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 75% Haiku triage / 25% Sonnet escalation is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r4
50% Haiku triage / 50% Sonnet escalation
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=50% Haiku triage / 50% Sonnet escalation; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 50% Haiku triage / 50% Sonnet escalation is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r5
100% Sonnet 4.6 direct execution
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=100% Sonnet 4.6 direct execution; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — 100% Sonnet 4.6 direct execution is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m2-r6
unresolved confidence threshold trigger
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=unresolved confidence threshold trigger; escalation mix; total monthly queries; blended spend; cost savings vs pure Sonnet; accuracy retention; routing recommendation; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — unresolved confidence threshold trigger has no matched, dated bilateral observation.FAIL CLOSED — manual, probe, or source evidence required

First-party provenance: Anthropic Claude documentation; verification date 2026-09-07. Missing or conflicting joins fail closed.

Interactive latency SLA and response turnaround audit

Frozen Batch 65 scenario board. Formula / deterministic rule: turnaround = ttft + (tokens_out / tps); Haiku low-latency vs Sonnet deep generation Boundary: Owns turnaround time benchmarks and user experience responsiveness.

Frozen scenario / field IDPair, identity, host, surface, and evidence fieldsResultState
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r1
real-time chat autocomplete (<200ms)
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=real-time chat autocomplete (<200ms); task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — real-time chat autocomplete (<200ms) is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r2
support agent intent routing (<400ms)
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=support agent intent routing (<400ms); task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — support agent intent routing (<400ms) is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r3
complex code refactoring (multi-second OK)
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=complex code refactoring (multi-second OK); task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — complex code refactoring (multi-second OK) is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r4
dense document summarization
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=dense document summarization; task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — dense document summarization is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r5
network contention latency buffer
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=network contention latency buffer; task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — network contention latency buffer is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict
batch65-claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6-m3-r6
unmeasured speed fixture
pair=claude-haiku-4-5 vs claude-sonnet-4-6; provider=Anthropic; hostA=api.anthropic.com; hostB=api.anthropic.com; surfaceA=Anthropic Messages API; surfaceB=Anthropic Messages API; requested/effective IDs=claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6; scenario=unmeasured speed fixture; task; response SLA; Haiku 4.5 latency; Sonnet 4.6 latency; SLA compliance; responsiveness winner; prompt/config/input/output/result/cache/checkpoint/artifact hashes=required; evidence=2026-09-07; measurement versus assumption=explicitUnavailable — unmeasured speed fixture is a frozen fixture pending exact identity, configuration, and denominator joins.UNTESTED — assumption cannot establish a verdict

First-party provenance: All AI Ask measured speed dataset; verification date 2026-09-07. Missing or conflicting joins fail closed.

Method and limitations: formulas are deterministic; observed and assumed inputs are labeled; no missing provider, host, account, region, realm, alias, snapshot, revision, weight, artifact, control, tool, modality, workload, rate-period, timestamp, or result is transferred. Run the claude-haiku-4-5-vs-claude-sonnet-4-6 Batch 65 scenario →

How do Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 compare on specs?

Claude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6
Price (input)$1.00/M$3.00/M
Price (output)$5.00/M$15.00/M
Blended price$2.00/M$6.00/M
Context window200,000 tokens300,000 tokens
Max output32,000 tokens64,000 tokens
Modalitiestext, visiontext, vision
Reasoning modeNoYes
Released2025-112026-03
Speed148 t/s76 t/s

How much do Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 cost at scale?

Tokens / monthClaude Haiku 4.5Claude Sonnet 4.6Delta
1,000,000$2.00$6.00$4.00 (3.0×)
10,000,000$20.00$60.00$40.00 (3.0×)
100,000,000$200.00$600.00$400.00 (3.0×)

Choose Claude Haiku 4.5 if…

  • Fastest Claude model
  • Lowest Claude pricing
  • Vision input included
  • Lightweight, high-volume operations like chat, tagging, and moderation.

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 if…

  • Best intelligence-per-dollar in the Claude lineup
  • Fast enough for interactive coding agents
  • Reliable structured output
  • Enterprise workloads that need Opus-adjacent quality at Sonnet pricing.

Run this exact matchup right now

Send the same prompt to Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 side by side and see the outputs yourself.

Try Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 Free

What are common questions about Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Is Claude Haiku 4.5 cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Haiku 4.5 is cheaper, at $2.00 per million blended tokens vs $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6.

Which has the bigger context window, Claude Haiku 4.5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger context window: 300,000 tokens vs 200,000.

Can Claude Haiku 4.5 replace Claude Sonnet 4.6 for coding?

Both are viable for coding. Fastest Claude model (Claude Haiku 4.5) vs Best intelligence-per-dollar in the Claude lineup (Claude Sonnet 4.6) — pick based on which strength matters more for your workload.

Which is faster, Claude Haiku 4.5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Haiku 4.5 is faster: 148 t/s vs 76 t/s, measured on our speed benchmarks.

Neither of these? See Claude Sonnet 4.6 alternatives.

What related comparisons help choose between Claude Haiku 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?

Claude Haiku 4.5 pricingClaude Sonnet 4.6 pricingvs DeepSeek V4 Provs Gemini 3.1 Provs Grok 4.3vs DeepSeek V4 ProPremium model tests

Pricing verified 2026-04-06. Specs verified 2026-08-14.