Claude Sonnet 5 vs Llama 4 Scout

Q: How much cheaper is Llama 4 Scout than Sonnet 5?

Llama 4 Scout costs $0.18/$0.59 per 1M tokens while Sonnet 5 costs $3.00/$15.00 — Llama is 94% cheaper on input and 96% cheaper on output. At 1M input + 500K output tokens/month, Llama costs $0.48 vs Sonnet 5's $10.50, saving $10.02/month ($120.24/year).

Anthropic's premium mid-tier vs Meta's open-weight budget king. Llama 4 Scout at $0.18/$0.59 is 94% cheaper on input and 96% cheaper on output than Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 — with a massive 10M context window.

Pricing data verified: Jul 1, 2026

Specification	Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic)	Llama 4 Scout (Meta)
Input Price (per 1M tokens)	$3.00	$0.18
Output Price (per 1M tokens)	$15.00	$0.59
Context Window	1M tokens	10M tokens
Tier	Mid	Open-Weight
Provider	Anthropic	Meta

Calculate Your Exact Costs

Llama is 94% cheaper on input — how much would you save switching?

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Claude Sonnet 5

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Other Open-Weight Models

Llama 4 Scout

Which Model for Which Use Case?

Code Generation

Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 produces higher-quality code with better reasoning. Llama 4 Scout at $0.18/$0.59 handles standard code tasks at 94% lower input cost — ideal for boilerplate, utility scripts, and high-volume code assistance.

Budget code: Llama 4 Scout | Complex code: Sonnet 5

Content Generation

Llama 4 Scout dominates on cost with 96% cheaper output. At 1M input + 500K output, Llama costs $0.48 vs Sonnet 5's $10.50. Perfect for blogs, marketing copy, and high-volume content where quality is "good enough."

Better value: Llama 4 Scout

Data Analysis

Llama 4 Scout's 10M context window is 10x larger than Sonnet 5's 1M — enabling massive document analysis at a fraction of the cost. Sonnet 5 still wins on reasoning quality for complex multi-step analysis.

Huge docs: Llama 4 Scout | Complex reasoning: Sonnet 5

Batch Processing

For high-volume batch workloads, Llama 4 Scout's 94-96% cost savings are transformative. At 10K requests/day, Llama saves $3,006/month vs Sonnet 5. The quality trade-off is almost always acceptable for batch jobs.

Better value: Llama 4 Scout

Comparing cloud vs open-weight?

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much cheaper is Llama 4 Scout than Sonnet 5?

Llama 4 Scout costs $0.18/$0.59 per 1M tokens vs Sonnet 5 at $3.00/$15.00 — 94% cheaper on input and 96% cheaper on output. At 1M input + 500K output tokens/month, Llama costs $0.48 vs Sonnet 5's $10.50, saving $10.02/month ($120.24/year).

Is Sonnet 5 better than Llama 4 Scout?

Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) excels at complex reasoning, code generation, and nuanced analysis. Llama 4 Scout ($0.18/$0.59) is an open-weight model with 10M context that's 94-96% cheaper — excellent for high-volume tasks, budget-constrained projects, and workloads where cost dominates the decision.

When should I choose Llama 4 Scout over Sonnet 5?

Choose Llama 4 Scout for high-volume batch processing, budget-constrained projects, tasks requiring massive context (up to 10M tokens), and workloads where 94-96% cost savings outweigh the quality gap. Choose Sonnet 5 for complex code generation, deep reasoning, and tasks requiring peak performance.