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LLM Toolkit

Model comparison

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Haiku 4.5

Verified pricing, context windows and real-workload costs for both models — computed from official provider rates as of 2026-08-25.

Cheaper input

Claude Haiku 4.5

$1.00 /1M in

Cheaper output

Claude Haiku 4.5

$5.00 /1M out

Bigger context

Claude Sonnet 5

200K tokens

Head to head

Spec Claude Sonnet 5 Claude Haiku 4.5
Input / 1M tokens $3.00 $1.00
Cached input / 1M $0.3 $0.1
Output / 1M tokens $15.00 $5.00
Context window 200K 200K
Provider Anthropic Anthropic
Price verified 2026-08-25 2026-08-25

Monthly cost at three real workloads

Workload Claude Sonnet 5 Claude Haiku 4.5 Winner
Side-project chatbot 30K req · 2,000 in / 500 out · 40% cached $340.20/mo $113.40/mo Claude Haiku 4.5
Coding agent 500K req · 12,000 in / 1,500 out · 70% cached $17,910/mo $5,970/mo Claude Haiku 4.5
Bulk extraction 2,000K req · 800 in / 120 out · 20% cached $7,536/mo $2,512/mo Claude Haiku 4.5

Computed from list prices verified 2026-08-25. Cache savings blend normal and cached input rates by the hit rate; models without published cached rates use the base input price. Adjust every parameter yourself on the API Cost Calculator.

Pick Claude Sonnet 5 if…

  • You prefer its $3.00 input rate for read-heavy workloads.
  • You need the larger 200K context window.
  • You value its provider ecosystem and tooling.

Pick Claude Haiku 4.5 if…

  • You generate long outputs — $5.00 per 1M output vs $15.00 adds up fast.
  • Its 200K window covers your typical request with headroom.
  • You want cheaper total spend at your exact volumes — verify with the calculator above.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper than Claude Haiku 4.5?

Claude Haiku 4.5 is cheaper on input at $1.00 per 1M tokens vs $3.00 — input pricing is 3.0× more expensive. On output, Claude Haiku 4.5 wins at $5.00 vs $15.00. At a balanced workload (100K requests, 2K in / 500 out), Claude Haiku 4.5 runs $450.00/mo vs $1,350/mo — a 3.0× difference.

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Haiku 4.5: which has the bigger context window?

Claude Sonnet 5, with 200K tokens vs 200K — 1.0× more room. Filling Claude Sonnet 5's window once costs $0.600 at list price, vs $0.200 for the smaller window.

Should I switch from Claude Sonnet 5 to Claude Haiku 4.5?

Switch if your bottleneck matches Claude Haiku 4.5's strengths: its 200K context fits your documents and cheaper output tokens ($5.00 vs $15.00). Stay on Claude Sonnet 5 if your workload already fits its limits. Test both with your real token counts before committing.

Keep comparing

Or measure your real usage with the AI Token Counter and browse all rates on the Pricing Comparison.