Amazon Nova Premier vs Claude Sonnet 4.5

Amazon · US  |  Anthropic · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Amazon Nova Premier for 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration or amazon's most capable nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models. Pick Claude Sonnet 4.5 for agentic coding — 77.2% on swe-bench verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch or computer use and gui automation (61.4% osworld at launch). On a tight budget at scale, Amazon Nova Premier is the value pick.

Amazon Nova Premier (Amazon) and Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Anthropic) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Premier is amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is september 2025's coding state of the art at $3/$15 — still supported, but 200K-capped and twice superseded. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecAmazon Nova PremierClaude Sonnet 4.5
ProviderAmazon (US) Anthropic (US)
ReleasedApril 30, 2025 September 29, 2025
Context window1M (~1,500 pages) 200K (~300 pages)
Price (in/out)$2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens $3/$15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?No — API only No — API only
Modalitiestext, image text, image, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published 77.2%
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

1M-token context with deep AWS Bedrock integration

Amazon Nova Premier

Its 1M window holds about 5× more than Claude Sonnet 4.5's 200K in a single prompt.

Amazon's most capable Nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models

Amazon Nova Premier

Amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence — and it runs cheaper at $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens.

A natural fit for teams already building on AWS

Amazon Nova Premier

Amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence — and it carries the larger 1M context.

Agentic coding — 77.2% on SWE-Bench Verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Amazon Nova Premier is comparatively weak here — expensive for its score at $2.50/$12.50 per million tokens

Computer use and GUI automation (61.4% OSWorld at launch)

Claude Sonnet 4.5

September 2025's coding state of the art at $3/$15 — still supported, but 200K-capped and twice superseded — and it is the newer of the two.

Long-horizon autonomy — Anthropic reported 30+ hours of sustained focus on multi-step tasks

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Claude Sonnet 4.5 lists long-horizon autonomy — Anthropic reported 30+ hours of sustained focus on multi-step tasks among its strengths; Amazon Nova Premier does not.

Lowest cost at scale

Amazon Nova Premier

At $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.

Largest single-prompt input

Amazon Nova Premier

Its 1M window is about 5× larger than Claude Sonnet 4.5's 200K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

Amazon Nova Premier

At $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 4.5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Amazon Nova Premier

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

Anyone whose priority is 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration

Amazon Nova Premier

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is agentic coding — 77.2% on swe-bench verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch

Claude Sonnet 4.5

That is its strongest area.

Amazon Nova Premier: where it fits

Amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence. Released April 30, 2025 by Amazon, it is built for 1M-token context with deep AWS Bedrock integration, amazon's most capable Nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models, a natural fit for teams already building on AWS, and multimodal input for complex reasoning across text and images.

Its trade-offs are real: weak on independent intelligence - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 13, below average for its tier, expensive for its score at $2.50/$12.50 per million tokens, a 2025 model - older than the 2026 frontier it competes against, and sources disagree on modalities (Amazon cites image input; some evaluations list text-only). At $2.5 in / $12.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.

Claude Sonnet 4.5: where it fits

September 2025's coding state of the art at $3/$15 — still supported, but 200K-capped and twice superseded. Released September 29, 2025 by Anthropic, it is built for agentic coding — 77.2% on SWE-Bench Verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch, computer use and GUI automation (61.4% OSWorld at launch), long-horizon autonomy — Anthropic reported 30+ hours of sustained focus on multi-step tasks, and tracking its own remaining token budget natively, which few models do.

Its trade-offs: superseded twice — Sonnet 4.6 and Sonnet 5 match or beat it at the same or lower price, capped at 200K since Anthropic retired its 1M beta in April 2026, while its successors ship 1M as standard, and missing the modern API surface: no adaptive thinking, no effort control, and half the max output of newer Sonnets. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.

The bottom line for this matchup

Amazon Nova Premier and Claude Sonnet 4.5 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Amazon Nova Premier costs less per token; Amazon Nova Premier holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Amazon Nova Premier for 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration, Claude Sonnet 4.5 for agentic coding — 77.2% on swe-bench verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.

Want both Amazon Nova Premier and Claude Sonnet 4.5 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Amazon Nova Premier or Claude Sonnet 4.5 better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Amazon Nova Premier, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Premier leans toward 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration while Claude Sonnet 4.5 leans toward agentic coding — 77.2% on swe-bench verified, the best score any model had posted at its launch, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Premier or Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Amazon Nova Premier is cheaper — $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.2× apart on input.

Which has the bigger context window?

Amazon Nova Premier — 1M vs 200K, about 5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both Amazon Nova Premier and Claude Sonnet 4.5 together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Premier, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, Amazon Nova Premier or Claude Sonnet 4.5?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 — released September 29, 2025, about 5 months after Amazon Nova Premier.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.