Claude Opus 4.6 vs Nova Premier
Wins 5 of 5 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Facts · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 0 of 5 areas
—
Claude Opus 4.6 is the stronger all-rounder.
Scores updated · 14 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the five 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 thinking30Claude Opus 4.63 of 3 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software20Claude Opus 4.62 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20Claude Opus 4.62 of 2 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
Long documents and following instructions 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 4.6 pulls ahead
- Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+43.7points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+39.4points ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+35.7points ahead
Where Nova Premier pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 14 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 4.6
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Opus 4.6 by 39.446.26.8+39.4
- SciCodeClaude Opus 4.6 by 2451.927.9+24
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.6
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.6 by 35.739.94.2+35.7
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.6 by 32.789.656.9+32.7
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.6 by 12.612.60+12.6
FactsClaude Opus 4.6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 4.6 by 25.74721.3+25.7
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Opus 4.6 by 9.137.228.1+9.1
Following instructionsClaude Opus 4.6
- IFBenchClaude Opus 4.6 by 16.953.136.2+16.9
Other results5 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.
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Opus 4.6 by 53.892.138.3+53.8
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 51.267.616.4+51.2
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 4.6 by 49.113.7-35.4+49.1
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 34.348.113.8+34.3
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.6 by 22.731.99.2+22.7
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 or Nova Premier?
Claude Opus 4.6 wins all five areas where both have results: coding, reasoning, facts, long documents and following instructions. Nova Premier wins none.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.6. It wins 2 of the 2 coding tests both models report; Nova Premier wins none.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 14 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 9 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 5 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.