Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Hunyuan Hy3 Preview
Claude Sonnet 4.5 (2025) and Hunyuan Hy3 Preview (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and Tencent AI Lab. Claude Sonnet 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while Hunyuan Hy3 Preview ships a 262k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads by 2.8 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is safer overall; choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $0.26/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 8 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | SWE-bench Verified leader | 2 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 2.8 points.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview holds a shared-benchmark lead on Google-Proof Q&A, ahead by 3.8 points.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.26/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Hunyuan Hy3 Preview 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 Sonnet 4.5
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview
$118
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $6,032. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is $14.74/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $14.74/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-09-29 | 2026-04-22 |
| Context window | 200k | 262k |
| Parameters | — | 295B |
| Architecture | decoder only | dense moe hybrid |
| License | Proprietary | Tencent Hunyuan Community License |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Commercial use with conditions |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
| $0.07/1M tokens |
| Output price |
| $0.26/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.2 | 74.4 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 83.4 | 87.2 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, SWE-bench Verified has Claude Sonnet 4.5 at 77.2 and Hunyuan Hy3 Preview at 74.4, with Claude Sonnet 4.5 ahead by 2.8 points; Google-Proof Q&A has Claude Sonnet 4.5 at 83.4 and Hunyuan Hy3 Preview at 87.2, with Hunyuan Hy3 Preview ahead by 3.8 points. The largest visible gap is 3.8 points on Google-Proof Q&A, 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 differs most on vision: Claude Sonnet 4.5, multimodal input: Claude Sonnet 4.5, and structured outputs: Claude Sonnet 4.5. Both models share reasoning mode, function calling, and tool use, 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 Sonnet 4.5 lists tiered pricing: 0-200,001t is $3/1M input and $15/1M output; 200,001t+ is $6/1M input and $22.50/1M output, while Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lists $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lower by about $6.48 per million blended tokens. For tiered rows, this cheapest-track view can understate interactive or fast-lane spend, so compare the tier you will actually use. Availability is 8 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Hunyuan Hy3 Preview 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 Sonnet 4.5 or Hunyuan Hy3 Preview?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview supports 262k tokens, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 Sonnet 4.5 or Hunyuan Hy3 Preview?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 lists tiered pricing: 0-200,001t is $3/1M input and $15/1M output; 200,001t+ is $6/1M input and $22.50/1M output. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lists $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. Compare the tier you will actually use; cheap async pricing can overstate savings for interactive workflows. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Hunyuan Hy3 Preview open source?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is listed under Proprietary. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is listed under Tencent Hunyuan Community License. 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 Sonnet 4.5 or Hunyuan Hy3 Preview?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 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 Sonnet 4.5 or Hunyuan Hy3 Preview?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Hunyuan Hy3 Preview?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is available on Microsoft Foundry, Anthropic, Snowflake Cortex, GCP Vertex AI, and AWS Bedrock. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is available on OpenRouter and Tencent Cloud TI Platform. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-07. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.