# Claude Sonnet 4.6

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is a model from Anthropic, released on 17 Feb 2026. The context window is 1,000,000 tokens. The maximum output is 128,000 tokens. Pricing is $3.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens.

- Developer: Anthropic
- Id: claude-sonnet-4-6
- Reported: 2026-02-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Released: 2026-02-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sighting: 2026-09-09T02:57:56.577Z
  - [evidence link](https://www.designarena.ai/leaderboard/website)
- Status: Released
- Canonical: https://alexgetman.com/models/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6/

## Using Sonnet 4.6 as a reproducible API baseline
Sources checked: 2026-11-12

The [Sonnet 4.6 reference](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-4-6/overview) documents this exact version as a legacy model. Keep its full identifier in an experiment: a tool's short “Sonnet” label does not establish which version answered. Check the provider's lifecycle notice before depending on the version for future work.

Our [API pricing worksheet](/analysis/ai-api-pricing/#formula) uses a dated Sonnet 4.6 example. Reuse the calculation method with the rates and conditions shown for your route today. Separate cache reads from writes and misses; token savings require an observed cache hit. Count retries and accepted results rather than comparing only the price of one successful call.

For a migration trial, keep several examples that matter to your application: correct JSON, a tool invocation and an answer grounded in a supplied document. Compare the same examples before changing traffic. If the workload runs through Claude Code, use the [Claude Code guide](/claude-code/) to identify whether you are spending subscription capacity or an API budget.


## Questions

### What is the context window of Claude Sonnet 4.6?

The context window is 1,000,000 tokens. The maximum output is 128,000 tokens.

### How much does Claude Sonnet 4.6 cost?

Pricing is $3.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens. Cached input is $0.30 per million.

### When was Claude Sonnet 4.6 released?

On 17 Feb 2026.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-07T19:43:10.391Z · [Claude Code · changelog](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/changelog)
- 2026-11-03T21:23:04.065Z · [Anthropic · SDK releases](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/release-notes/overview)

## Evidence links

- [anthropic](https://api.anthropic.com/v1/models)
- [Artificial Analysis · benchmarks](https://artificialanalysis.ai/models)
- [Claude Code · changelog](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/changelog)
- [models.dev · catalogue](https://models.dev/#claude-sonnet-4-6)
- [models.dev · catalogue](https://models.dev/#claude-sonnet-4.6)
- [models.dev · catalogue](https://models.dev/#databricks-claude-sonnet-4-6)
- [OpenCode · discovery](https://opencode.ai/data/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6)
- [anthropic-pricing](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing)
- [review](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/models/sonnet-4-6/overview)
- [Anthropic · SDK releases](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/release-notes/overview)
- [Vercel AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/ai-gateway)
- [Arena · leaderboards](https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-sonnet-4-6)
- [designarena:website](https://www.designarena.ai/leaderboard/website)
- [DesignArena · website](https://www.designarena.ai/leaderboard?category=website)

## Signals

- [gpt-5.5-high](https://alexgetman.com/signals/2026/09/13/gpt-5-5-high-3/)
- [Claude Sonnet 4.6 spotted on DesignArena](https://alexgetman.com/signals/2026/09/09/claude-sonnet-4-6-non-reasoning-high/)