Claude 3 Sonnet benchmarks, pricing and specs
Claude 3 Sonnet is an Anthropic model released on March 4, 2024 that takes text and image input and produces text. It is now listed as a legacy model. It costs $3 per 1M input tokens and $15 per 1M output tokens and accepts up to 200,000 tokens of context. It scores 1281 Elo on Arena Text (Arena, measured October 8, 2026).
- Per 1M input tokens
- $3
- Per 1M output tokens
- $15
- Context window
- 200K
- Arena Text
- 1281 Elo
Data verified October 12, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-12
Key facts
- Provider
- Anthropic
- Model family
- Claude 3
- Release date
- March 4, 2024
- Status
- Legacy
- Access
- API only
- API model id
- Not reported
- Context window
- 200,000 tokens
- Max output
- 4,096 tokens
- Input
- text, image
- Output
- text
- Task families
- text, multimodal
- Declared capabilities
- reasoning
Claude 3 Sonnet pricing
It is the #10 most expensive of 38 current text models priced per 1M input tokens.
Independent benchmark results
Scores come from independent evaluators that ran the model themselves, pinned to a dated snapshot. Rank is among current models in the same snapshot. Anthropic's own launch figures are listed under strengths with the publisher named, because they are not measured the same way.
| Benchmark | Score | Rank | Measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena Text | 1281 Elo | Not ranked | October 8, 2026 | Arena · 2026-10-12 |
| GPQA Diamond | 40.6% | Not ranked | October 12, 2026 | Epoch AI · 2026-10-12 |
Strengths, cautions and best uses
Strengths
- Claude 3 Sonnet records API access for text and image inputs and a published 200,000-token context window
Cautions
- This record is marked legacy; confirm current availability and migration requirements before adoption
Best for
- Historical text-and-image API comparison at mid-tier list pricing
Alternatives to Claude 3 Sonnet
The closest current textmodels by price. The cheapest model that scores as well or better is listed first; failing that, the cheapest one within 3% of the benchmark's scale.
Cheaper, same or higher score
GPT-4.1 nano
- 97% cheaper per 1M input tokens, $0.10 vs $3
- 41 points higher on Arena Text, 1322 vs 1281
- 1.05M context window vs 200K
- From OpenAI
Kimi K3
- Same price per 1M input tokens, $3
- 207 points higher on Arena Text, 1488 vs 1281
- 1.05M context window vs 200K
- From Moonshot Kimi
GPT-5.4
- 17% cheaper per 1M input tokens, $2.50 vs $3
- 194 points higher on Arena Text, 1475 vs 1281
- 1.05M context window vs 200K
- From OpenAI
Claude Opus 5.5
- 33% more per 1M input tokens, $4 vs $3
- 226 points higher on Arena Text, 1507 vs 1281
- 1M context window vs 200K
Other Claude 3 models
Claude 3 Sonnet FAQ
How much does Claude 3 Sonnet cost?
Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3 per 1M input tokens and $15 per 1M output tokens at the standard tier. It is the #10 most expensive of 38 current text models priced per 1M input tokens. Source: Anthropic, verified August 6, 2026.
What is the context window of Claude 3 Sonnet?
Claude 3 Sonnet accepts up to 200,000 tokens of context. It can return up to 4,096 tokens in one response. That ranks #40 of 45 current text models by context length.
How does Claude 3 Sonnet score on independent benchmarks?
Claude 3 Sonnet scores 1281 Elo on Arena Text (Arena, measured October 8, 2026) and 40.6% on GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI, measured October 12, 2026). These are independent evaluations, not Anthropic's own launch figures.
Is Claude 3 Sonnet open source or API only?
Claude 3 Sonnet is available through Anthropic's API only; its weights are not published.
What are the best alternatives to Claude 3 Sonnet?
The closest current alternatives by price and measured performance are GPT-4.1 nano (97% cheaper per 1M input tokens, $0.10 vs $3), Kimi K3 (same price per 1M input tokens, $3), GPT-5.4 (17% cheaper per 1M input tokens, $2.50 vs $3) and Claude Opus 5.5 (33% more per 1M input tokens, $4 vs $3).
Sources
- Introducing the next generation of Claude · Anthropic · official · verified August 6, 2026
- Claude pricing · Anthropic · official · verified August 6, 2026
- Claude models overview · Anthropic · official · verified August 6, 2026
- Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub data (benchmark_data.zip) · Epoch AI · independent · verified October 12, 2026 · CC-BY-4.0
- Arena leaderboard dataset (lmarena-ai/leaderboard-dataset) · Arena · independent · verified October 12, 2026 · CC-BY-4.0
Cite this page
Van Data Team. "Claude 3 Sonnet Benchmarks, Pricing and Specs." AI Model Benchmark Dataset 2026-10-12. https://vandatateam.com/ai-model-benchmarks/claude-3-sonnet
Reuse the data: JSON · CSV · or explore every model in the AI model benchmark comparison.
Production evaluation
Deciding whether Claude 3 Sonnet fits your workload?
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