Model comparison
Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Claude 4 Sonnet
Head-to-head evidence from 1 shared benchmark result across 1 category. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude 3.5 Sonnet #132 (Estimated); Claude 4 Sonnet #158 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 4 Sonnet share 1 comparable benchmark result. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 3 results are unique to Claude 3.5 Sonnet; 15 to Claude 4 Sonnet.
Updated July 22, 2026- Shared results
- 1
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet only
- 3
- Claude 4 Sonnet only
- 15
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick Claude 3.5 Sonnet if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Claude 4 Sonnet only becomes the better choice if coding is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 1 shared benchmark result across 1 evidence category; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 47.74 to 42.79. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Δ | Claude 4 Sonnet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Claude 3.5 Sonnet49.0 | Margin→ 23.7 | Claude 4 Sonnet72.7 |
| Knowledge | Claude 3.5 Sonnet59.4 | MarginNo overlap | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured |
| Math | Claude 3.5 Sonnet1.6 | MarginNo overlap | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 49%B 72.7%Winner: Claude 4 SonnetΔ 23.7SWE-bench Verified: Claude 3.5 Sonnet scored 49%; Claude 4 Sonnet scored 72.7%. Claude 4 Sonnet wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Claude 4 Sonnet | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude 3.5 Sonnet$3 input / $15 output | Claude 4 Sonnet$3 input / $15 output | Listed prices are equal. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude 3.5 SonnetNot available | Claude 4 Sonnet40 tok/s | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude 3.5 SonnetNot available | Claude 4 Sonnet1.33 s | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude 3.5 Sonnet200K | Claude 4 Sonnet200K | Listed context windows are equal. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic3 benchmarks
CodingClaude 4 Sonnet wins2 benchmarks
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge7 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Claude 4 Sonnet | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 59.4% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | — | 25.5% | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | — | 68.3% | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | — | 4.0% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | — | -9.2% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | — | 22.4% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | — | 40.8% | Not comparable |
Math2 benchmarks
Multimodal2 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Claude 4 Sonnet | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | — | 45.4% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude 4 Sonnet?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 47.74 to 42.79. The biggest single separator in this matchup is SWE-bench Verified, where the scores are 49% and 72.7%.
Which is better for coding, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude 4 Sonnet?
Claude 4 Sonnet has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.7 versus 49. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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