Claude Sonnet 4 vs Magistral Medium 1.2
Wins 7 of 7 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 0 of 7 areas
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Claude Sonnet 4 is the stronger all-rounder.
Scores updated · 18 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the seven 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.
- CodingWriting and fixing software20Claude Sonnet 42 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own20Claude Sonnet 42 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20Claude Sonnet 42 of 2 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking10Claude Sonnet 41 of 3 tests · 2 ties
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video10Claude Sonnet 41 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Sonnet 41 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Claude Sonnet 41 of 1 test
Images and charts, 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 Sonnet 4 pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+30.9points ahead
- Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+23.9points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+18.2points ahead
Where Magistral Medium 1.2 pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 18 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Sonnet 4
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Sonnet 4 by 23.936.312.4+23.9
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Sonnet 4 by 18.231.112.9+18.2
- SciCodetie4039.2tie
AgentsClaude Sonnet 4
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingClaude Sonnet 4 by 11.116.75.6+11.1
- GDPValClaude Sonnet 4 by 9.79.70+9.7
ReasoningClaude Sonnet 4
- GPQA DiamondClaude Sonnet 4 by 3.877.773.9+3.8
- Humanity's Last Examtie10.710.3tie
- CritPttie0.30.3tie
FactsClaude Sonnet 4
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Sonnet 4 by 30.970.940+30.9
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Sonnet 4 by 1.922.720.8+1.9
Images and chartsClaude Sonnet 4
- MMMU-ProClaude Sonnet 4 by 2.161.859.7+2.1
Following instructionsClaude Sonnet 4
- IFBenchClaude Sonnet 4 by 11.754.743+11.7
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.
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Sonnet 4 by 26.90.2-26.7+26.9
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Sonnet 4 by 16.337.621.3+16.3
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Sonnet 4 by 15.717.61.9+15.7
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Sonnet 4 by 12.664.652+12.6
- AA IntelligenceClaude Sonnet 4 by 7.118.911.8+7.1
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4 or Magistral Medium 1.2?
Claude Sonnet 4 wins all seven areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, long documents and following instructions. Magistral Medium 1.2 wins none.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4. It wins 2 of the 3 coding tests both models report; Magistral Medium 1.2 wins none, and 1 is a tie.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 18 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 13 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.