Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs MiniCPM5-1B
Head-to-head comparison across 2benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verdict
Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads for most workloads.
Based on BenchLM composite scores, July 2026.
Claude Sonnet 4.5
60
MiniCPM5-1B
36
Pick Claude Sonnet 4.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. MiniCPM5-1B only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority or you want the stronger reasoning-first profile.
Category Radar
Head-to-Head by Category
Category Breakdown
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Δ | MiniCPM5-1B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | 83.4 | ← 39.3 | 44.1 |
| Math | 11.2 | → 21.9 | 33.1 |
| Agentic | 55.4 | — | — |
| Coding | 77.2 | — | — |
| Reasoning | 13.6 | — | — |
| Inst. Following | — | — | 58.5 |
Operational Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5
MiniCPM5-1B
$3 / $15
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
200K
131K
Quick Verdict
Pick Claude Sonnet 4.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. MiniCPM5-1B only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority or you want the stronger reasoning-first profile.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 60 to 36. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude Sonnet 4.5's sharpest advantage is in knowledge, where it averages 83.4 against 44.1. MiniCPM5-1B does hit back in mathematics, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
MiniCPM5-1B is the reasoning model in the pair, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Claude Sonnet 4.5 gives you the larger context window at 200K, compared with 131K for MiniCPM5-1B.
Benchmark Deep Dive
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or MiniCPM5-1B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 60 to 36.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or MiniCPM5-1B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 83.4 versus 44.1. MiniCPM5-1B stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Which is better for math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or MiniCPM5-1B?
MiniCPM5-1B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 33.1 versus 11.2. Inside this category, AIME 2025 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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