Both are Anthropic models. Claude Opus 4.7 is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Claude Sonnet 4.6 when its lower price or specific profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 are both Anthropic models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Claude Opus 4.7 is the agentic-coding-focused Opus that traded some long-context recall for long-run reliability. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is opus-class quality on most tasks at roughly 60% lower cost — the default workhorse. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences
Price: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is about 1.7× cheaper on input ($3/$15 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — modest, but it adds up at steady volume.
Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: Claude Opus 4.7 is the newer model by about 58 days (released April 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Claude Opus 4.7
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Anthropic (US)
Released
April 2026
February 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
80%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
32.2%
Not published
Who wins what
Long-running agentic coding workflows: Claude Opus 4.7 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Precise instruction following: Claude Opus 4.7 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Task budgets and effort tiers: Claude Opus 4.7 — A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Best value in the Claude family: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Everyday professional work: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Long-document analysis: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Lowest cost at scale: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — At $3/$15 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — At $3/$15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 4.7, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is long-running agentic coding workflows: Claude Opus 4.7 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is best value in the claude family: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 4.7: where it fits
The agentic-coding-focused Opus that traded some long-context recall for long-run reliability. Released April 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for long-running agentic coding workflows, precise instruction following, task budgets and effort tiers, and large-codebase operation.
Its trade-offs are real: long-context recall regressed vs 4.6, and superseded by Opus 4.8. At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
Claude Sonnet 4.6: where it fits
Opus-class quality on most tasks at roughly 60% lower cost — the default workhorse. Released February 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for best value in the Claude family, everyday professional work, long-document analysis, and coding at lower cost than Opus.
Its trade-offs: trails Opus on the hardest agentic tasks, and not an open-weight option. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Because Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 come from the same lab (Anthropic), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Claude Opus 4.7 is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Claude Opus 4.7 and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Claude Opus 4.7, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 4.7 leans toward long-running agentic coding workflows while Claude Sonnet 4.6 leans toward best value in the claude family, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.7× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Should I upgrade from Claude Sonnet 4.6 to Claude Opus 4.7?
Since both are Anthropic models, the newer one (Claude Opus 4.7) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Opus 4.7 — released April 2026, about 58 days after Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Claude Opus 4.7 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Anthropic · US | Anthropic · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Both are Anthropic models. Claude Opus 4.7 is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Claude Sonnet 4.6 when its lower price or specific profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 are both Anthropic models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Claude Opus 4.7 is the agentic-coding-focused Opus that traded some long-context recall for long-run reliability. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is opus-class quality on most tasks at roughly 60% lower cost — the default workhorse. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is about 1.7× cheaper on input ($3/$15 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — modest, but it adds up at steady volume.
▸Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: Claude Opus 4.7 is the newer model by about 58 days (released April 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Claude Opus 4.7
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Anthropic (US)
Released
April 2026
February 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
80%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
32.2%
Not published
Who wins what
Long-running agentic coding workflows
Claude Opus 4.7
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Precise instruction following
Claude Opus 4.7
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Task budgets and effort tiers
Claude Opus 4.7
A core design strength of Claude Opus 4.7.
Best value in the Claude family
Claude Sonnet 4.6
A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Everyday professional work
Claude Sonnet 4.6
A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Long-document analysis
Claude Sonnet 4.6
A core design strength of Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Lowest cost at scale
Claude Sonnet 4.6
At $3/$15 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Claude Sonnet 4.6
At $3/$15 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 4.7, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is long-running agentic coding workflows
→ Claude Opus 4.7
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is best value in the claude family
→ Claude Sonnet 4.6
That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 4.7: where it fits
The agentic-coding-focused Opus that traded some long-context recall for long-run reliability. Released April 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for long-running agentic coding workflows, precise instruction following, task budgets and effort tiers, and large-codebase operation.
Its trade-offs are real: long-context recall regressed vs 4.6, and superseded by Opus 4.8. At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
Claude Sonnet 4.6: where it fits
Opus-class quality on most tasks at roughly 60% lower cost — the default workhorse. Released February 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for best value in the Claude family, everyday professional work, long-document analysis, and coding at lower cost than Opus.
Its trade-offs: trails Opus on the hardest agentic tasks, and not an open-weight option. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Because Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 come from the same lab (Anthropic), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Claude Opus 4.7 is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Claude Opus 4.7 and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Want both Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 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.
Is Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Claude Opus 4.7, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 4.7 leans toward long-running agentic coding workflows while Claude Sonnet 4.6 leans toward best value in the claude family, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.7× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Should I upgrade from Claude Sonnet 4.6 to Claude Opus 4.7?
Since both are Anthropic models, the newer one (Claude Opus 4.7) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Opus 4.7 — released April 2026, about 58 days after Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.