Claude has emerged as the go-to choice for complex reasoning and coding tasks. This guide covers all Claude models, pricing, and when to use each.
Claude Pricing Overview (January 2026)
| Model | Input/1M | Output/1M | Context | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.5 | $5.00 | $25.00 | 200K | Complex reasoning |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | $15.00 | $75.00 | 200K | Legacy (deprecated) |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $3.00 | $15.00 | 200K | Balanced quality/cost |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | $3.00 | $15.00 | 200K | Coding, general |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1.00 | $5.00 | 200K | Fast, efficient |
| Claude Haiku 3.5 | $0.80 | $4.00 | 200K | Budget option |
Which Claude Model to Choose?
Opus 4.5 - The Flagship
Strengths:
- Best-in-class reasoning and analysis
- Superior performance on complex coding tasks
- Extended thinking capabilities
- Excellent at nuanced, multi-step problems
Use for: Complex analysis, difficult coding problems, research tasks, anything requiring deep reasoning.
Sonnet 4.5 - The Sweet Spot
Strengths:
- Excellent balance of quality and cost
- Very strong at coding (often preferred over Opus for code)
- Fast response times
- Good for most production use cases
Use for: Production chatbots, code generation, content creation, most business applications.
Haiku 4.5 - The Efficient Choice
Strengths:
- Very fast (lowest latency)
- Cost-effective for high volume
- Surprisingly capable for simpler tasks
- Great for real-time applications
Use for: High-volume tasks, classification, extraction, interactive chat where speed matters.
Claude vs OpenAI: Price Comparison
| Tier | Claude | OpenAI | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flagship | Opus 4.5 ($5/$25) | GPT-5.2 ($1.75/$14) | OpenAI (cheaper) |
| Mid-tier | Sonnet 4.5 ($3/$15) | GPT-5.1 ($1.25/$10) | OpenAI (cheaper) |
| Budget | Haiku 4.5 ($1/$5) | GPT-5-mini ($0.30/$1) | OpenAI (cheaper) |
Note: OpenAI is generally cheaper, but Claude often wins on quality for specific tasks like coding and reasoning. Test both for your use case.
Cost Optimization for Claude
- Start with Sonnet - it handles most tasks excellently
- Use Haiku for classification/routing - then escalate to Sonnet/Opus
- Leverage the 200K context - no extra charge for long context
- Enable prompt caching - available for all Claude models
Track Claude Costs with Burnwise
One-line SDK integration. See cost breakdown by feature. Get optimization recommendations.
Start Free