Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Llama 4 Scout 17B
Claude 3.5 Sonnet (2024) and Llama 4 Scout 17B (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and AI at Meta. Claude 3.5 Sonnet ships a 200k-token context window, while Llama 4 Scout 17B ships a 10m-token context window. On pricing, Llama 4 Scout 17B costs $0.17/1M input tokens versus $3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama 4 Scout 17B is ~1665% cheaper at $0.17/1M; pay for Claude 3.5 Sonnet only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Llama 4 Scout 17B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | multimodal apps and long-context analysis |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | RAG, Long context, and Vision |
| Context window | 200k | 10m |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $0.66/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 6 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet uniquely exposes Vision, Reasoning, and Function calling in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude 3.5 Sonnet for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.66/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Scout 17B for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: GCP Vertex AI
Llama 4 Scout 17B
$301
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $5,849. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B is $14.34/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Reasoning, and Function calling before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet is $14.34/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet adds Vision, Reasoning, and Function calling in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-06-20 | 2025-10-01 |
| Context window | 200k | 10m |
| Parameters | 70B | 17 |
| Architecture | decoder only | - |
| License | Unknown | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | 2024-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Llama 4 Scout 17B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3/1M tokens | $0.17/1M tokens |
| Output price | $15/1M tokens | $0.66/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Llama 4 Scout 17B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, reasoning mode: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, function calling: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and code execution: Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Both models share 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 lists $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Llama 4 Scout 17B lists $0.17/1M input and $0.66/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 4 Scout 17B lower by about $6.28 per million blended tokens. Availability is 6 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet when coding workflow support and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Llama 4 Scout 17B when long-context analysis, 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Llama 4 Scout 17B?
Llama 4 Scout 17B supports 10m tokens, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet 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 or Llama 4 Scout 17B?
Llama 4 Scout 17B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude 3.5 Sonnet costs $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens. Llama 4 Scout 17B costs $0.17/1M input and $0.66/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Llama 4 Scout 17B open source?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is listed under Unknown. Llama 4 Scout 17B is listed under Open Source. 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 or Llama 4 Scout 17B?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Llama 4 Scout 17B?
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Llama 4 Scout 17B 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 and Llama 4 Scout 17B?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available on GCP Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, Anthropic, OpenRouter, and Microsoft Foundry. Llama 4 Scout 17B is available on AWS Bedrock. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-16. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.