Agentic
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Model comparison
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Updated August 11, 2026. Public scores include evidence status and uncertainty. They are not guarantees for a specific workload.
At least one model is not scored in the current public ranking lane, so the page does not name an overall quality winner.
1 results are shared. Category rows based on different benchmark sets are marked directional and do not name a winner.
Which one for your work
Recommendations appear only when a shared evidence basis or an explicit operating constraint supports the call. Secondary and unsupported use cases stay disclosed below the initial list.
Long documents
Prompts that approach the documented context limit
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has the larger documented context window.
Confidence: documented
Show secondary and unsupported calls
Coding work
Code generation, repair, and software-engineering tasks
Not enough matched evidence
No shared weighted benchmark basis supports a winner.
Confidence: limited
Agentic work
Tool use, computer use, and multi-step task completion
Not enough matched evidence
No shared weighted benchmark basis supports a winner.
Confidence: limited
Chat turn cost
1K fresh input + 500 output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Confidence: listed-rates
Cache-heavy agent loop cost
200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
The page does not recommend a cost winner because at least one model cannot fit the stated workload in one request. Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking does not fit this workload in one request. Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has no comparable published API token rate. Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking has no comparable published API token rate.
Confidence: listed-rates
Repository review cost
50K fresh input + 3K output tokens
Not enough matched evidence
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Confidence: listed-rates
What is actually comparable
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results present for only one model describe coverage, not superiority.
1 Shared
- Shared results
- 1
- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) only
- 0
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 0 / 8
Category results, on a stated basis
Each row states whether both averages use the same weighted benchmark set. Directional and not-comparable rows remain visible, but they never receive a winner in this template.
Coding
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Reasoning
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Knowledge
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Math
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Multilingual
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Multimodal
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
Instruction following
Not comparable- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- Not measured
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- Not measured
- Weighted basis
- 0 vs 0 rows
- Reading
- Not comparable
| Category | Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) | Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking | Weighted basis | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Coding | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Reasoning | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Knowledge | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Math | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Multilingual | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Multimodal | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
| Instruction following | Not measured | Not measured | Not comparable0 vs 0 rows | Not comparable |
Shape of the matched evidence
Only shared public evidence is shown. Sparse evidence stays a ruled list rather than being closed into a radar shape.
A shared-evidence shape is not available.
BenchLM does not draw a radar or infer missing axes when the matched evidence is too sparse.
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes turn per-token rates into comparable decisions. Each scenario states context fit and whether cached input had to fall back to the published list-input rate.
Chat turn
1K fresh input + 500 output tokens
- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- API rate not published
- Fits in one request
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- API rate not published
- Fits in one request
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has no comparable published API token rate. Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking has no comparable published API token rate.
Repository review
50K fresh input + 3K output tokens
- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- API rate not published
- Fits in one request
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- API rate not published
- Fits in one request
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has no comparable published API token rate. Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking has no comparable published API token rate.
Cache-heavy agent loop
200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens
- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
- API rate not published
- Fits in one request
- Cached-input rate unavailable
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
- API rate not published
- Does not fit in one request
- Cached-input rate unavailable
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking does not fit this workload in one request. Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has no comparable published API token rate. Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking has no comparable published API token rate.
Specification differences
Sourced differences are shown directly. Missing facts stay explicit instead of being inferred from a model name or family.
SpecificationClaude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Context window
Maximum documented context; output-token limits may be lower.
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
200K
API model ID
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
claude-opus-4-6
Anthropic model ID documentationClaude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Not sourced
Cached-input rate
A missing cached-input rate falls back to the listed input rate only in the stated workload estimate.
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
No comparable hosted API rate
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
No comparable hosted API rate
Documented inputs
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
text, image
Anthropic model overviewClaude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Not sourced
Documented outputs
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Not sourced
Provider availability
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Generally Available · Claude API
Anthropic model overviewClaude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Not sourced
Reasoning profile
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Reasoning
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Reasoning
Weight access
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Proprietary
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Proprietary
License
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
Proprietary
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
Proprietary
Release date
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)
2026-02-01
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking
2025-09-01
If you already use one of these models
- Deployment change
- Both entries list Anthropic as the provider. Confirm endpoint, model ID, limits, and feature support before switching.
- Quality signal
- At least one model is not scored in the current public ranking lane, so the page does not name an overall quality winner.
- Workload cost
- A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
- Context tradeoff
- Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has the larger documented window (1M).
Run the same representative tasks against both endpoints before changing production traffic.
Benchmark evidence
The full public result ledger is available for audit without forcing a wide desktop table onto a phone.
Browse raw public benchmark evidence1 rows
Coding
Vibe Code Bench
Shared sourceClaude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive)53.50%Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking22.62%Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) leads this result
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) or Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking?
At least one model is not scored in the current public ranking lane, so the page does not name an overall quality winner. The page therefore keeps the decision tied to the specific documented workload.
Which is better for coding, Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) or Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking?
The published evidence does not provide a shared weighted coding basis for both models, so BenchLM does not name a coding winner.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) or Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking?
The published evidence does not provide a shared weighted agentic tasks basis for both models, so BenchLM does not name a agentic tasks winner.
Which costs less, Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) or Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking?
Both models do not have comparable published API token rates, so this page does not name a universal price winner.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) or Claude Sonnet 4.5 Thinking?
Claude Opus 4.6 (Adaptive) has the larger documented context window: 1M, compared with 200K.
Related comparisons
Last updated August 11, 2026
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