Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Command R
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Claude 3.5 Sonnet specs · Command R specs- PriceCommand R
Command R is roughly 10.0× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $15.00 per 1M).
- Context windowClaude 3.5 Sonnet
Claude 3.5 Sonnet accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesClaude 3.5 Sonnet
Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Command R.
- OpennessCommand R
Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.
It's a genuine coin-flip between Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Command R: 2 category wins each, with the rest tied. Command R is roughly 10.0× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $15.00 per 1M). Claude 3.5 Sonnet accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Claude 3.5 Sonnet handles text, vision while Command R handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the newer of the two, released 8 months after Command R, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is usually picked for coding llm and code review workloads, while Command R sees more deployments in rag and customer support. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Command R |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Cohere |
| Released | Oct 2024 | Mar 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $0.50 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $15.00 / 1M tokens | $1.50 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | No | Yes (CC-BY-NC 4.0) |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$31.50 vs $3.75
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $37.50
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $84.00
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $31.50 vs $3.75 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $315 vs $37.50 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $540 vs $84.00 per month, model B comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Claude 3.5 Sonnet$1.05
- Command R$0.125
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- HumanEval92.0
Claude 3.5 Sonnet fits when…
- Mature and battle-tested
- Strong code
- Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for Command R.
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Command R fits when…
- Cheap RAG
- Reliable tool-use
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 10.0× cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet on output tokens.
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0).
Consider Claude Opus 4.7
Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.
Frequently asked
Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Command R cheaper?
Command R is cheaper at $1.50 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $15.00 / 1M tokens for Claude 3.5 Sonnet.Which has the larger context window?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for Command R.Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Command R better for coding?
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Command R are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Command R ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0). Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.When were Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Command R released?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released by Anthropic on 2024-10-22. Command R was released by Cohere on 2024-03-11.
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