Which Claude model do you need?
5 questions, 30 seconds. We'll tell you whether Haiku, Sonnet, or Opus fits your real use case — no hype, no pushing you toward the priciest option by default.
Selector questions
1. What will you mainly use AI for?
2. What volume of use do you expect?
3. What matters most in your decision?
4. Do you need the AI to act autonomously (agents, tools, code)?
5. How much context do you need to load (documents, code, history)?
Claude's 3 models, in one table
The recommendation follows one simple rule: use the smallest model that handles your task well. Overpaying for power you don't need is the most common mistake when starting out with the API.
| Model | Price (1M tokens, input/output) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku | ~$1 / ~$5 | Real-time chat, classification, high volume |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | ~$3 / ~$15 | Coding, agents, daily professional use |
| Claude Opus | ~$15 / ~$75 | Deep reasoning, critical tasks |
What if I need several models at once?
That's the norm in production: a router that sends each request to the right model. For example, Claude Haiku for classifying and answering simple queries, and Claude Sonnet only when the request requires coding, tool use, or multi-step reasoning. That way you only pay for the high-end model when it's actually needed.
Want to put real numbers on your choice? Use our AI API cost calculator, dig deeper with Claude vs ChatGPT vs Gemini, or explore the rest of the tools in the AI directory.