Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Jamba 1.5 Large
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
- PriceJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large is roughly 1.9× cheaper on output tokens ($8.00 vs $15.00 per 1M).
- Context windowJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 200K, 1.3× 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 Jamba 1.5 Large.
- OpennessJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large ships open weights (Jamba Open Model License); Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.
On balance Jamba 1.5 Large edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 1. Jamba 1.5 Large is roughly 1.9× cheaper on output tokens ($8.00 vs $15.00 per 1M). Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 200K, 1.3× 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 Jamba 1.5 Large handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Jamba 1.5 Large ships open weights (Jamba Open Model License); Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is the newer of the two, released 2 months after Jamba 1.5 Large, 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 Jamba 1.5 Large sees more deployments in long context and rag. 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 | Jamba 1.5 Large |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | AI21 |
| Released | Oct 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 256K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $15.00 / 1M tokens | $8.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | No | Yes (Jamba Open Model License) |
| 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 $18.00
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $180
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $348
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $31.50 vs $18.00 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $315 vs $180 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $540 vs $348 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
- Jamba 1.5 Large$0.600
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
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Jamba 1.5 Large fits when…
- 256k context
- Efficient long-context inference
- Open weights
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 1.9× cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet on output tokens.
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Jamba Open Model License).
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 Jamba 1.5 Large cheaper?
Jamba 1.5 Large is cheaper at $8.00 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $15.00 / 1M tokens for Claude 3.5 Sonnet.Which has the larger context window?
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 200K for Claude 3.5 Sonnet.Is Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Jamba 1.5 Large better for coding?
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Jamba 1.5 Large 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?
Jamba 1.5 Large ships open weights (Jamba Open Model License). Claude 3.5 Sonnet is API-only.When were Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Jamba 1.5 Large released?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released by Anthropic on 2024-10-22. Jamba 1.5 Large was released by AI21 on 2024-08-22.
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