API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Nova Micro 1.0

Pick Nova Micro 1.0 for lower cost; pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Nova Micro 1.0 for lower cost; pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $10.39 (99% lower).

Cost-first pickNova Micro 1.0
Context-first pickClaude Sonnet 4.6
Sample savings$10.3999%
10x traffic gap$103.95

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has more context, but Nova Micro 1.0 saves $10.39 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $103.95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Nova Micro 1.0 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickClaude Sonnet 4.6Nova Micro 1.0
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputNova Micro 1.0$22.5$0.25
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputNova Micro 1.0$18$0.18
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputNova Micro 1.0$78$0.74
Cheaper input Nova Micro 1.0 $3 vs $0.035 / 1M

Nova Micro 1.0 is $2.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.8% lower; 85.7x difference).

Cheaper output Nova Micro 1.0 $15 vs $0.14 / 1M

Nova Micro 1.0 is $14.86 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99.1% lower; 107.1x difference).

Larger context Claude Sonnet 4.6 1M vs 128K

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 872K more context (7.81x larger).

Sample workload Nova Micro 1.0 $10.5 vs $0.11

Nova Micro 1.0 is $10.39 cheaper on the standard workload (99% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Nova Micro 1.0 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Nova Micro 1.0 has the lower input price; Nova Micro 1.0 has the lower output price; Claude Sonnet 4.6 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nova Micro 1.0 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and $0.11 for Nova Micro 1.0.

Best Fit

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Nova Micro 1.0 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $10.39 (99% lower).
  • Nova Micro 1.0 is $10.39 cheaper on the standard workload (99% lower).
  • Nova Micro 1.0 is $2.96 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.8% lower; 85.7x difference).
  • Nova Micro 1.0 is $14.86 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99.1% lower; 107.1x difference).
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 872K more context (7.81x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6
(Anthropic)		Nova Micro 1.0
(Amazon)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$3$0.035
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$15$0.14
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$10.5$0.11
Context Window1M128K
Release Date
Popularity#4#146

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionNova Micro 1.0On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova Micro 1.0 is estimated at $0.11 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $10.39 (99% lower).
High-volume input processingNova Micro 1.0Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsNova Micro 1.0Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workClaude Sonnet 4.6A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Claude 3 Haiku can replace Claude Sonnet 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.88.
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku can replace Claude Sonnet 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.8.
  • Anthropic Claude Haiku Latest can replace Claude Sonnet 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $3.5.
  • Claude Haiku 4.5 can replace Claude Sonnet 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $3.5.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Anthropic catalog

Review all tracked Anthropic models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Amazon catalog

Check other Amazon models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Amazon models
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Sonnet 4.6 is Anthropic's most capable Sonnet-class model yet, with frontier performance across coding, agents, and professional work. It excels at iterative development, complex codebase navigation, end-to-end project management with...

Nova Micro 1.0

Amazon Nova Micro 1.0 is a text-only model that delivers the lowest latency responses in the Amazon Nova family of models at a very low cost. With a context length...