Claude Mythos 5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Mythos 5 (2026) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic. Claude Mythos 5 ships a 1m-token context window, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1m-token context window. On Humanity's Last Exam, Claude Mythos 5 leads by 31.3 pts. On pricing, Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/1M input tokens versus $10/1M 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 ~233% cheaper at $3/1M; pay for Claude Mythos 5 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Mythos 5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 1m | 1m |
| Cheapest output | $50/1M tokens | $15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 6 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | Humanity's Last Exam leader | 1 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Mythos 5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on Humanity's Last Exam, ahead by 31.3 points.
- Local decision data tags Claude Mythos 5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- 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 Computer use and Parallel agents 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 Mythos 5
$20,500
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $14,350. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $35/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Computer use and Parallel agents in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Mythos 5 is $35/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Computer use and Parallel agents before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-06-09 | 2026-02-17 |
| Context window | 1m | 1m |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Mythos 5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $10/1M tokens | $3/1M tokens |
| Output price | $50/1M tokens | $15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Mythos 5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | Yes |
| Parallel agents | No | Yes |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Mythos 5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Humanity's Last Exam | 64.5 | 33.2 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Humanity's Last Exam has Claude Mythos 5 at 64.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 at 33.2, with Claude Mythos 5 ahead by 31.3 points. The largest visible gap is 31.3 points on Humanity's Last Exam, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint is close: both models cover vision, multimodal input, reasoning mode, function calling, and tool use. That makes context budget, benchmark fit, and provider maturity more important than a simple checklist. If your application depends on one integration detail, verify it against the provider route you plan to use, not just the base model listing.
For cost, Claude Mythos 5 lists $10/1M input and $50/1M 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 $15.40 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 6, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude Mythos 5 when coding workflow support are central to the workload. Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when coding workflow support, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice 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 Mythos 5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Mythos 5 supports 1m tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1m 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 Mythos 5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude Mythos 5 costs $10/1M input and $50/1M 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 Mythos 5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 open source?
Claude Mythos 5 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 Mythos 5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Both Claude Mythos 5 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 Mythos 5 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Both Claude Mythos 5 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 Mythos 5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Mythos 5 is available on Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI. 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.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.