Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Composer 2.5

Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Composer 2.5 compare a standalone API model against an IDE-native agent. Sonnet has 1M context in beta, computer-use positioning, and broad product integration; Composer has lower standard pricing and Cursor-harness benchmark rows. Treat the result as workflow fit, not a universal model winner.

Pick Sonnet 4.6 when API access, long context, broader tools, or non-Cursor deployment matter. Pick Composer 2.5 when you want the packaged IDE-native agent built on Kimi K2.5 workflow and standard-tier cost dominates. Treat Composer's 79.8% SWE-Bench Multilingual score and Sonnet's SWE-Bench Verified rows as different test sets, not a single leaderboard.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first

Signal	Claude Sonnet 4.6	Composer 2.5	How to read it
Product type	Standalone API model	IDE-native agent built on Kimi K2.5	Read downstream rows through the product-type lens before comparing benchmarks, prices, or provider availability.
Best for	API builders, multimodal apps, and non-IDE automation	Long Cursor IDE sessions and autonomous in-IDE coding	Use-case synthesis from product type, capability flags, context, and provider data.
Decision fit	Coding, RAG, and Agents	Coding, RAG, and Agents	Primary workload tags from local decision data.
Context window	1m	1m	Higher is better when prompts, retrieval chunks, or transcripts are large.
Cheapest output	$15/1M tokens	$2.50/1M tokens	Cheapest tracked provider route; verify your exact region and tier.
Provider routes	6 tracked	1 tracked	Broader coverage can reduce vendor lock-in and fallback risk.
Shared benchmarks	4 shared	SWE-rebench leader	Visible benchmark lead is 19.1 points on SWE-rebench.

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when...

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Choose Composer 2.5 when...

Composer 2.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-rebench, ahead by 19.1 points.
Composer 2.5 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.50/1M tokens.
Composer 2.5 uniquely exposes IDE integration in local model data.
Local decision data tags Composer 2.5 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.

Lower estimate Composer 2.5

Requests / monthInput tokens / requestOutput tokens / request

Claude Sonnet 4.6

$6,150

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Composer 2.5

$1,025

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Cursor Standard async

Estimated monthly gap: $5,125. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Claude Sonnet 4.6 -> Composer 2.5

No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Composer 2.5; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
Composer 2.5 is $12.50/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.
Composer 2.5 adds IDE integration in local capability data.

Composer 2.5 -> Claude Sonnet 4.6

No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Composer 2.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $12.50/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Check replacement coverage for IDE integration before moving production traffic.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.

Specs

Specification	Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic	Composer 2.5 Cursor (Anysphere)
Released	2026-02-17	2026-05-18
Context window	1m	1m
Parameters	—	—
Architecture	Decoder Only	-
License	Proprietary	Proprietary
Openness	Proprietary	Proprietary
Weights	Not released	Not released
Code	Unknown	Not released
Commercial use	Commercial use: conditional	Commercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff	2025-08	-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attribute	Claude Sonnet 4.6	Composer 2.5
Input price	$3/1M tokens	Standard async $0.50/1M tokens Cursor Composer 2.5 standard tier. Fast interactive $3/1M tokens Cursor says fast has the same intelligence and is the default.
Output price	$15/1M tokens	Standard async $2.50/1M tokens Cursor Composer 2.5 standard tier. Fast interactive $15/1M tokens Cursor says fast has the same intelligence and is the default.
Providers	OpenRouter Anthropic AWS Bedrock GCP Vertex AI Microsoft Foundry Vercel AI Gateway	Cursor

Capabilities

Capability	Claude Sonnet 4.6	Composer 2.5
Vision	Yes	No
Multimodal	Yes	No
Reasoning	Yes	No
JSON / Tool use	Yes	Yes
Structured outputs	Yes	No
Code execution	Yes	Yes
IDE integration	No	Yes
Computer use	Yes	No
Parallel agents	Yes	Yes

Benchmarks

Benchmark	Claude Sonnet 4.6	Composer 2.5
SWE-rebench	60.7	79.8
Terminal-Bench 2.0	59.1	69.3
CursorBench	49.0	56.1
SWE-bench Multilingual	75.9	79.8

Harness caveat. Composer 2.5 is measured as IDE-native agent built on Kimi K2.5, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is standalone API model. Treat shared benchmark scores as directional because IDE or product scaffolding, tool access, prompt routing, and interaction mode can change real application results.

Continue comparing

Model pages

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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.

Both models

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Composer 2.5