Claude Sonnet 5 vs Muse Spark 1.1
Wins 5 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Math · Long documents
Wins 3 of 8 areas
Facts · Images and charts · Following instructions
Claude Sonnet 5 is the stronger all-rounder.Muse Spark 1.1 is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 34 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.
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own30Claude Sonnet 53 of 4 tests · 1 tie
- CodingWriting and fixing software31Claude Sonnet 53 of 6 tests · 2 ties
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking31Claude Sonnet 53 of 4 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math10Claude Sonnet 51 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Claude Sonnet 51 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12Muse Spark 1.12 of 3 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video01Muse Spark 1.11 of 2 tests · 1 tie
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01Muse Spark 1.11 of 1 test
Math, 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.
Muse Spark 1.1 costs 54% 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 Sonnet 5 pulls ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+12.6points ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+10.6points ahead
- Complex command-line tasks across many fieldsTerminal-Bench 4.0+8points ahead
Where Muse Spark 1.1 pulls ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+24.1points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+12points ahead
- Follows detailed instructions exactlyLiveBench · Instruction Following+5.7points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 34 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Sonnet 5
- SciCodeMuse Spark 1.1 by 4.554.358.8+4.5
- LiveBench · CodingClaude Sonnet 5 by 3.580.777.2+3.5
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Sonnet 5 by 2.680.577.9+2.6
- SWE-bench ProClaude Sonnet 5 by 1.763.261.5+1.7
- LiveBench · Agentic Codingtie59.458.5tie
- LMArena · WebDevtie15391542tie
AgentsClaude Sonnet 5
- GDPValClaude Sonnet 5 by 12.648.335.7+12.6
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Sonnet 5 by 814.16.1+8
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingClaude Sonnet 5 by 5.537.331.8+5.5
- OSWorld-Verifiedtie81.280.8tie
ReasoningClaude Sonnet 5
- Humanity's Last ExamMuse Spark 1.1 by 4.941.346.2+4.9
- CritPtClaude Sonnet 5 by 1.816.915.1+1.8
- GPQA DiamondClaude Sonnet 5 by 1.391.189.8+1.3
- LiveBench · ReasoningClaude Sonnet 5 by 188.787.7+1
FactsMuse Spark 1.1
- SimpleQA VerifiedMuse Spark 1.1 by 24.133.757.8+24.1
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyMuse Spark 1.1 by 124052+12
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Sonnet 5 by 10.660.650+10.6
Images and chartsMuse Spark 1.1
- LMArena · VisionMuse Spark 1.1 by 19 rating points12751294+19 rating
- CharXiv (RQ)tie88.388.4tie
Following instructionsMuse Spark 1.1
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingMuse Spark 1.1 by 5.763.969.6+5.7
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.
- ToolathlonMuse Spark 1.1 by 21.354.375.6+21.3
- GDPval-AA v2 EloClaude Sonnet 5 by 203 rating points15841381+203 rating
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Sonnet 5 by 16.844.327.5+16.8
- AA-OmniscienceMuse Spark 1.1 by 11.616.428.1+11.6
- AA IntelligenceClaude Sonnet 5 by 4.538.233.7+4.5
- HealthBench ProfessionalMuse Spark 1.1 by 1.557.859.3+1.5
- DeepSWE 1.1Claude Sonnet 5 by 15453+1
- livebench_data_analysistie71.772.5tie
- Toolathlon Verifiedtie74.775.6tie
- livebench_languagetie7574.3tie
- Artificial Analysis Coding Indextie71.571.3tie
- CharXiv Reasoning (With tools)tie88.388.4tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5 or Muse Spark 1.1?
Claude Sonnet 5 wins five of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, math and long documents. Muse Spark 1.1 wins facts, images and charts and following instructions, and costs 54% less.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Sonnet 5. It wins 3 of the 6 coding tests both models report; Muse Spark 1.1 wins 1, and 2 are ties.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Sonnet 5 costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $10.00 per million output tokens; Muse Spark 1.1 costs $1.25 and $4.25. That makes Muse Spark 1.1 about 54% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 34 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 22 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.