Claude Opus 4.5 vs MAI-Thinking-1
Wins 3 of 6 areas
Reasoning · Facts · Long documents
Wins 0 of 6 areas
—
Claude Opus 4.5 wins more areas, narrowly.
Scores updated · 13 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking10Claude Opus 4.51 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up10Claude Opus 4.51 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Opus 4.51 of 1 test
- CodingWriting and fixing software11Even1 each · 1 tie
- MathCompetition and research-level math00Even0 each · 2 ties
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked11Even1 each
Reasoning, facts and long documents rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 4.5 pulls ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+14.7points ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in Python projectsSWE-bench Verified+7.4points ahead
- Keeps track of context across a multi-turn chatMulti-Challenge+6points ahead
Where MAI-Thinking-1 pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+11points ahead
- Recent programming contest problemsLiveCodeBench v6+2.9points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 13 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingEven
- SWE-bench VerifiedClaude Opus 4.5 by 7.480.973.5+7.4
- LiveCodeBench v6MAI-Thinking-1 by 2.984.887.7+2.9
- SWE-bench Protie5252.8tie
Long documentsClaude Opus 4.5
- LongBench v2Claude Opus 4.5 by 3.464.461+3.4
Following instructionsEven
- IFBenchMAI-Thinking-1 by 115869+11
- Multi-ChallengeClaude Opus 4.5 by 65953+6
Other results3 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- Terminal-Bench 2.0Claude Opus 4.5 by 13.359.346+13.3
- MMLU-ProClaude Opus 4.5 by 4.589.585+4.5
- AIME 2025MAI-Thinking-1 by 4.292.897+4.2
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
Claude Opus 4.5 wins three of the six areas where both have results: reasoning, facts and long documents. MAI-Thinking-1 wins none. They are level on coding, math and following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
Neither. They win 1 coding test each of the 3 both models report, and 1 is a tie.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 13 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 10 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 3 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.