Claude Sonnet 5
TL;DR
PremiumThe recommended default in Command Code for day-to-day coding.
Available on
Not on the Go plan ($1/mo, open-source models only).
Switch with
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 from the selector.
Intelligence Index
Claude Sonnet 5 vs the Anthropic lineup
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Opus 4.7
Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Speed
~79
tokens / sec
Input
$2
per M tokens
Output
$10
per M tokens
Claude Sonnet 5 in Command Code
Claude Sonnet 5 is Anthropic's premium model — best combo of speed & intelligence (recommended). It runs in Command Code with a 1M-token context window, switchable any time with /model.
It scores 53.4 on the Intelligence Index — #8 of the 38 scored models in the Command Code lineup.
Claude Sonnet 5 specs at a glance
What Claude Sonnet 5 accepts, how much it can hold in context, and what you need to run it.
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 5 |
|---|---|
| Context window | 1M tokens |
| Input modalities | text + images |
| Reasoning | Yes — efforts: low, medium, high, xhigh, max |
| Release date | 2026-06-30 |
| Minimum plan | Pro |
Claude Sonnet 5 vs the Command Code lineup
Claude Sonnet 5 alongside its nearest real alternatives in the lineup — every price straight from the billing tables.
| Model | Intelligence | Coding | Speed | Input $/M | Output $/M | Blended $/M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5 | 59.9 | 76.5 | ~62 tok/s | $10.00 | $50.00 | $20 | 1M |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | 55 | 76.7 | ~155 tok/s | $2.50 | $15.00 | $5.625 | 1.1M |
| GPT-5.5 | 54.8 | 74.9 | ~81 tok/s | $5.00 | $30.00 | $11.25 | 200K |
| Grok 4.5 | 53.8 | 72.4 | ~114 tok/s | $2.00 | $6.00 | $3 | 500K |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 53.5 | 73.6 | ~52 tok/s | $5.00 | $25.00 | $10 | 1M |
| Claude Sonnet 5 (this page) | 53.4 | 71.5 | ~79 tok/s | $2.00 | $10.00 | $4 | 1M |
| Tencent Hy3 | 41.2 | 58.8 | ~58 tok/s | $0.00 | $0.00 | free | 262K |
What Claude Sonnet 5 is best for
Claude Sonnet 5 earns its slot in the lineup for everyday coding sessions, long agent loops, long-context work across big codebases.
- Everyday coding sessions — pick Claude Sonnet 5 from /model and it applies to the session.
- Long agent loops — pick Claude Sonnet 5 from /model and it applies to the session.
- Long-context work across big codebases — pick Claude Sonnet 5 from /model and it applies to the session.
When to switch away from Claude Sonnet 5
No single model wins every task. These are Claude Sonnet 5's computed nearest alternatives — one step up, one step down in cost, one for speed, one from the same family — each switchable mid-session with /model.
Switch to Claude Opus 4.7
Claude Opus 4.7 scores 53.5 on the Intelligence Index to Claude Sonnet 5's 53.4 — the nearest genuine step up — at $10 blended per million tokens versus $4. Reach for it when a task keeps hitting Claude Sonnet 5's ceiling.
Switch to Grok 4.5
Grok 4.5 runs about 25% cheaper blended ($3 versus $4 per million tokens) while scoring 53.8 on the Intelligence Index. Switch down for high-volume work where Claude Sonnet 5's edge isn't earning its rate.
Switch to GPT-5.3 Codex
GPT-5.3 Codex streams ~106 tokens/sec to Claude Sonnet 5's ~79 at a comparable blended cost ($3.50 per million tokens). Use it when iteration speed matters more than squeezing out the last point of quality.
Switch to Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Opus 4.8 is the nearest Anthropic sibling — same house style, different price point ($10 versus $4 blended per million tokens). The natural swap when you want to stay in the family.
What you pay for Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 5 is billed per token at the rates below — the same billing tables the Usage page charges against, so this page cannot quote a different price than you pay.
Blended cost (3:1 input:output, the shape of a typical coding session) works out to $4 per million tokens.
A price change is already announced: from 2026-09-01 the rates in the last row apply.
| Per 1M tokens | Input | Output | Cache read |
|---|---|---|---|
| All requests | $2.00 | $10.00 | $0.20 |
| From 2026-09-01 | $3.00 | $15.00 | $0.30 |
In Command Code: caching and taste-1
Two things change the experience of using this model inside Command Code versus calling it directly through the upstream API.
First, prompt caching is on by default. In an agent loop the same context is read across many steps; cache reads are billed at $0.20 per million tokens versus $2.00 for fresh input.
Second, taste-1 sits between the model and the agent loop, rewriting and reranking candidate edits to match your codebase conventions.
Plan availability
Claude Sonnet 5 is a premium model — it needs the Pro plan or higher. Not on the Go plan ($1/mo, open-source models only).
Command Code is a subscription with model usage at API rates. Each plan ships with monthly LLM credits; credits roll over and never expire, and auto top-up keeps you running if you go over.
| Plan | Price/mo | LLM credits | Models |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | $1 | $10 | Open-source only |
| Pro | $15 | $30 | Open-source + premium |
| Provider | $15 | Pay as you go | Open-source + premium |
| Max 10× | $100 | $150 | Open-source + premium |
| Max 20× | $200 | $300 | Open-source + premium |
| Teams Pro | $40 / seat | $40 / seat | Open-source + premium |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom pool, SSO, audit logs |
Switching models with /model
In an interactive Command Code session, run /model to open the model selector. Pick Claude Sonnet 5 and it applies to this session and to future sessions until you change it again. Premium models require Pro or higher; open-source models are available on every plan, including Go.
cmd # start an interactive session
/model # open the selector and pick Claude Sonnet 5All Command Code models, ranked by quality and speed
Quality is the Intelligence Index — an aggregate score across reasoning, math, coding, and knowledge evaluations. Speed is measured output tokens per second. Models without a published score are noted. This table is regenerated from the model registry, so it is always current.
| Model | Tier | Intelligence Index | Output speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5 | Premium | 59.9 | ~62 tok/s |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | Premium | 58.9 | ~77 tok/s |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Premium | 55.7 | ~55 tok/s |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | Premium | 55 | ~155 tok/s |
| GPT-5.5 | Premium | 54.8 | ~81 tok/s |
| Grok 4.5 | Open-source | 53.8 | ~114 tok/s |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | Premium | 53.5 | ~52 tok/s |
| Claude Sonnet 5 (this page) | Premium | 53.4 | ~79 tok/s |
| GPT-5.4 | Premium | 51.4 | ~164 tok/s |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | Premium | 51.2 | ~234 tok/s |
| GLM-5.2 | Open-source | 51.1 | ~208 tok/s |
| Muse Spark 1.1 | Premium | 50.6 | ~130 tok/s |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | Premium | 50.2 | ~236 tok/s |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Premium | 47.2 | ~55 tok/s |
| Qwen 3.7 Max | Open-source | 46 | ~196 tok/s |
| MiniMax M3 | Open-source | 44.4 | ~113 tok/s |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | Open-source | 44.3 | ~62 tok/s |
| GPT-5.3 Codex | Premium | 44.3 | ~106 tok/s |
| Kimi K2.6 | Open-source | 44.2 | ~43 tok/s |
| MiMo V2.5 Pro | Open-source | 42.2 | ~56 tok/s |
| Kimi K2.7 Code | Open-source | 41.9 | ~46 tok/s |
| Tencent Hy3 | Open-source | 41.2 | ~58 tok/s |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | Open-source | 40.3 | ~106 tok/s |
| GLM-5.1 | Open-source | 40.2 | ~81 tok/s |
| Qwen 3.6 Max Preview | Open-source | 40 | ~46 tok/s |
| GPT-5.4 Mini | Premium | 40 | ~171 tok/s |
| Qwen 3.6 Plus | Open-source | 39.6 | ~53 tok/s |
| GLM-5 | Open-source | 39.5 | ~51 tok/s |
| Qwen 3.7 Plus | Open-source | 39 | ~52 tok/s |
| Kimi K2.5 | Open-source | 38.1 | ~51 tok/s |
| MiniMax M2.7 | Open-source | 38.1 | ~49 tok/s |
| Nemotron 3 Ultra | Open-source | 37.8 | ~204 tok/s |
| MiMo V2.5 | Open-source | 37.2 | ~88 tok/s |
| MiniMax M2.5 | Open-source | 33.7 | ~78 tok/s |
| Step 3.7 Flash | Open-source | 30.3 | ~407 tok/s |
| Step 3.5 Flash | Open-source | 26 | ~207 tok/s |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Premium | 25 | ~300 tok/s |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Premium | 23.7 | ~103 tok/s |
| Kimi K3 | Open-source | Not yet scored | — |
| Kimi K2.7 Code HighSpeed | Open-source | Not yet scored | — |
| GLM-5.2 Fast | Open-source | Not yet scored | — |
| Inkling | Open-source | Not yet scored | — |
| Fugu Ultra | Premium | Not yet scored | — |
Frequently asked questions
Claude Sonnet 5 or Claude Opus 4.7?
Claude Opus 4.7 scores higher on the Intelligence Index (53.5 vs 53.4) at $10 blended per million tokens against Claude Sonnet 5's $4. Default to Claude Sonnet 5 and switch up when a task keeps stalling.
Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 is about 25% cheaper blended ($3 vs $4 per million tokens), scoring 53.8 on the Intelligence Index. Use Grok 4.5 for volume work and Claude Sonnet 5 where its edge earns the difference.
How much does Claude Sonnet 5 cost in Command Code?
$2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens, with cache reads at $0.20. In an agent loop, cached context brings effective input to roughly $0.74 per million tokens.
What plan do I need for Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5 requires the Pro plan or higher. The Go plan ($1/mo) covers open-source models only.
How good is Claude Sonnet 5 at coding?
Claude Sonnet 5 scores 71.5 on the Coding Index — the Artificial Analysis sub-score most predictive of coding-agent performance — alongside 53.4 overall.
Does Claude Sonnet 5 support image input and reasoning?
Yes — Claude Sonnet 5 accepts image input alongside text. It supports reasoning with selectable effort (low, medium, high, xhigh, max).
Which Command Code model should I use?
Claude Fable 5 currently leads the lineup on the Intelligence Index (59.9). Grok 4.5 (53.8) leads the open-weights tier, available on every plan. For fast lookups, Step 3.7 Flash streams ~407 tok/s. There is no single right answer — switch per session with /model and let the task pick the model.
Can I mix Claude Sonnet 5 with other models in a workflow?
Yes. Switch per session using /model. Common pattern: keep a default model and switch up for hard problems or down for quick lookups as the task calls for it.
Is Sonnet 5 the right default in Command Code?
For most users, yes. It is the best balance of quality and speed in the Claude family and a drop-in upgrade from Sonnet 4.6. Switch up to Opus 4.8 when reasoning quality matters more than cost, or down to Haiku 4.5 when latency wins.
How is Sonnet 5 priced?
Introductory pricing is $2 input / $10 output per million tokens through August 31, 2026. From September 1, 2026 standard pricing of $3 / $15 applies — the same rate as Sonnet 4.6.
Why is Sonnet 5 not on the Intelligence Index?
Public aggregate benchmarks have not yet been re-run for Sonnet 5 in the current Intelligence Index format. The model is available and routed normally.
What's new in Sonnet 5?
Sonnet 5 turns on adaptive thinking by default, no longer accepts manual extended thinking or non-default sampling parameters, and uses a new tokenizer that produces about 30% more tokens for the same text. Command Code handles these automatically.
Is Command Code free to try?
The Go plan starts at $1/mo with $10 in LLM credits. It covers open-source models only. Pro at $15/mo unlocks premium models with $30 in LLM credits.
Does Command Code train on my code?
No. Command Code does not train on your code or store your code snippets. taste-1 data is stored locally in your project directory.
Where can I track my usage?
The Usage page in Studio shows per-request cost, token counts, and which model ran. Settings > Billing lets you change plans, buy credits, or enable auto top-up.
Does Command Code replace my editor?
No. Command Code is editor-agnostic — it runs as a CLI and works alongside any editor (Cursor, VS Code, Zed, JetBrains, Neovim, etc.).
Related reading
- Claude Opus 4.7 in Command Codeprev flagship, still strong for agents and coding
- Claude Opus 4.8 in Command Codemost intelligent Opus for agents and coding
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 in Command Codeprev Sonnet, still fast & capable
- Grok 4.5 in Command Codesmartest model for coding, agentic tasks, knowledge work
- Every model, one referenceThe docs list of all Command Code models with ids and context windows.
- Pricing, limits, and dealsThe canonical price table, running deals, and usage estimates.
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