Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Claude Sonnet 4.5 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,524 vs 1,320), while Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (70.1%), while Codestral 25.01 is more budget-friendly at $0.9/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
10 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Workhorse Anthropic model: most of Opus coding quality at a mid-tier price.
Mistral code-specialist model.
Currently comparing Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Codestral 25.01. Alternative family tiers available.
Δ 204 Arena Elo pts
148 tok/s
$0.9 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Codestral 25.01 | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +204 | ||
| Coding Elo | +129 | ||
| LiveBench | +13.4% | ||
| SWE-bench | +18.3% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +21.8% | ||
| Time to first token | +90 ms | ||
| Output speed | 88 tok/s | 148 tok/s | +60 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.3/1M | +$2.7/1M | |
| Output price | $0.9/1M | +$14.1/1M | |
| Context window | +56k |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Codestral 25.01 is estimated to save $306.00/month ($3,672/year).
Higher SWE-bench (70.1%).
Lower output list price ($0.9/1M).
Lower TTFT (150 ms).
Larger window (256k).
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Higher SWE-bench (70.1%). |
| High-volume chat | Codestral 25.01 | Lower output list price ($0.9/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Codestral 25.01 | Lower TTFT (150 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Codestral 25.01 | Larger window (256k). |
| Screenshots / vision | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog. |
Most of Opus 4.5 coding at a mid-tier price. Sonnet 5 replaced it as the buy; 4.5 remains a compare baseline.
Jan 2025 code model. Still a valid cheap-coding compare. Not a chatbot.
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Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry
