Claude Opus 4.6 vs o3
Wins 7 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Claude Opus 4.6 is the stronger all-rounder.o3 is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 32 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. 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 thinking50Claude Opus 4.65 of 5 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software30Claude Opus 4.63 of 3 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own20Claude Opus 4.62 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21Claude Opus 4.62 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video21Claude Opus 4.62 of 3 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked02o32 of 2 tests
Math 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.
o3 costs 67% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 4.6 pulls ahead
- Abstract visual puzzles that people can solveARC-AGI-2+62.3points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+43.1points ahead
- Finds hard-to-locate facts by browsing the webBrowseComp+34.3points ahead
Where o3 pulls ahead
- Keeps track of context across a multi-turn chatMulti-Challenge+23.2points ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+18.3points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+2.4points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 32 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 4.6
- SWE-bench VerifiedClaude Opus 4.6 by 11.780.869.1+11.7
- SciCodeClaude Opus 4.6 by 10.951.941+10.9
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Opus 4.6 by 9.146.237.1+9.1
AgentsClaude Opus 4.6
- GDPValClaude Opus 4.6 by 43.155.912.8+43.1
- BrowseCompClaude Opus 4.6 by 34.38449.7+34.3
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.6
- ARC-AGI-2Claude Opus 4.6 by 62.368.86.5+62.3
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.6 by 19.839.920.1+19.8
- SimpleBenchClaude Opus 4.6 by 14.567.653.1+14.5
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.6 by 11.512.61.1+11.5
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.6 by 6.989.682.7+6.9
FactsClaude Opus 4.6
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Opus 4.6 by 25.337.211.9+25.3
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 4.6 by 8.44738.6+8.4
- SimpleQA Verifiedo3 by 2.44749.4+2.4
Images and chartsClaude Opus 4.6
- LMArena · VisionClaude Opus 4.6 by 102 rating points13161214+102 rating
- MMMU-ProClaude Opus 4.6 by 5.375.470.1+5.3
- CharXiv (RQ)o3 by 1.277.478.6+1.2
Following instructionso3
- Multi-Challengeo3 by 23.237.160.4+23.2
- IFBencho3 by 18.353.171.4+18.3
Other results12 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.
- ARC-AGI-1Claude Opus 4.6 by 32.29360.8+32.2
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 31.567.636.1+31.5
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 4.6 by 29.213.7-15.6+29.2
- ERQAo3 by 23.240.864+23.2
- frontiermath_tier_4_v1Claude Opus 4.6 by 20.822.92.1+20.8
- AIME 2025Claude Opus 4.6 by 13.499.886.4+13.4
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.6 by 11.731.920.2+11.7
- τ²-Bench (Retail)Claude Opus 4.6 by 11.791.980.2+11.7
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Opus 4.6 by 11.492.180.7+11.4
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 9.748.138.4+9.7
- LiveCodeBenchClaude Opus 4.6 by 4.188.884.7+4.1
- MMLU-ProClaude Opus 4.6 by 4.189.185+4.1
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 or o3?
Claude Opus 4.6 wins seven of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, math and long documents. o3 wins following instructions, and costs 67% less.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.6. It wins 3 of the 3 coding tests both models report; o3 wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00 per million input tokens and $25.00 per million output tokens; o3 costs $2.00 and $8.00. That makes o3 about 67% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 32 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 20 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 12 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.