Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5

Wins 0 of 4 benchmarks
$0.88 / task
Wins 3 of 4 benchmarks
Sonnet 4.57.2
Sonnet 5.545.8
Sonnet 4.50
Sonnet 5.543.9
Sonnet 4.514.1
Sonnet 5.559.4
Sonnet 4.565.2
Sonnet 5.5—

Specs

SpecSonnet 4.5Sonnet 5.5
Input, per 1M$3$2
Output, per 1M$15$10
Cost per task?—$0.88
Speed, tok/s47106
Context1M1M
WeightsClosedClosed
ReleasedSep 2025Sep 2026
See images✓✓
Read PDFsPartial✓
Hear audio——
Watch video——
Call tools✓✓
Force a tool callPartial—
Return strict JSON✓✓
Search the web?✓
Run code?✓
Use a computer?✓

What breaks when you switch

Sonnet 4.5 → Sonnet 5.5
No forced tool use›

Forced tool_choice any or tool returns HTTP 400; remove the forced choice.

Replace disabled thinking›

Disabled thinking returns HTTP 400; use between_tools for the lowest thinking setting.

No manual thinking budgets›

Manual thinking budgets and extra between_tools fields return HTTP 400; remove manual budgets and send between_tools without display, budget_tokens or block_binding.

Remove sampling parameters›

Non-default temperature, top_p or top_k returns HTTP 400; remove these parameters.

No assistant prefill›

A prefilled final assistant turn returns HTTP 400; remove that prefill.

Old computer tool rejected · Claude API / Google Cloud›

The computer_20251124 tool returns HTTP 400 on the Claude API and Google Cloud; use computer_toolset_20260801 there.

Sonnet 5.5 → Sonnet 4.5
Nothing known.