Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 (2025) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic. Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 ships a 200k-token context window, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1m-token context window. On pricing, Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/1M input tokens versus $6/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is ~100% cheaper at $3/1M; pay for Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 only for vision-heavy evaluation.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | RAG, Long context, and Vision | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 1m |
| Cheapest output | $30/1M tokens | $15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 6 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $15/1M tokens.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 uniquely exposes Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2
$12,300
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Claude Sonnet 4.6
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $6,150. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Anthropic and AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock and Anthropic; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 is $15/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-12-01 | 2026-02-17 |
| Context window | 200k | 1m |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | - | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | 2025-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $6/1M tokens | $3/1M tokens |
| Output price | $30/1M tokens | $15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Function calling | No | Yes |
| Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | Yes |
| Parallel agents | No | Yes |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: Claude Sonnet 4.6, function calling: Claude Sonnet 4.6, tool use: Claude Sonnet 4.6, and code execution: Claude Sonnet 4.6. Both models share vision, multimodal input, and structured outputs, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 lists $6/1M input and $30/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 lists $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Claude Sonnet 4.6 lower by about $6.60 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 6, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 when vision-heavy evaluation are central to the workload. Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when coding workflow support, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1m tokens, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 supports 200k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 costs $6/1M input and $30/1M output tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 open source?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 is listed under Proprietary. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for multimodal input, Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 is available on AWS Bedrock and Anthropic. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is available on OpenRouter, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, GCP Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.