Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Muse Spark 1.3
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (84 vs 72 out of 100). Muse Spark 1.3 is about 5.1× cheaper per blended million tokens ($0.78 vs $4, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads 56 to 48.
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 · Anthropic | Muse Spark 1.3 · Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #4 | #8 |
| Score (0–100) | 84 | 72 |
| Tier | Workhorse | Workhorse |
| Price per 1M tokens | $2 in · $10 out | $0.78 blended (estimate) |
| Context window | 1M | Not verified |
| Open weights | No | Not verified |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 56 | 48 |
| Arena text score | — | 1494 |
| DistressBench (Scale) | — | 84.88 |
| Best for | Production coding assistants, High-volume agents, Default model for most teams | Latency-first products, Customer-facing chat, Meta-ecosystem teams |
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 if…
- you need production coding assistants
- you need high-volume agents
- you need default model for most teams
The value pick of the table: second on the index at a fifth of the Opus price, and the fastest of the top five.
Choose Muse Spark 1.3 if…
- you need latency-first products
- you need customer-facing chat
- you need meta-ecosystem teams
The fastest thing in the table by a distance, and the one to beat on the stress benchmark nobody else talks about.
What practitioners say
Claude Sonnet 5.5: Less discussed than its siblings because it just works; the October cache-read price cut to $0.10 per million was the news.
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Muse Spark 1.3?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (84 vs 72 out of 100). Muse Spark 1.3 is about 5.1× cheaper per blended million tokens ($0.78 vs $4, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads 56 to 48.
When should I choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 over Muse Spark 1.3?
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for production coding assistants, high-volume agents, default model for most teams. The value pick of the table: second on the index at a fifth of the Opus price, and the fastest of the top five.
When should I choose Muse Spark 1.3 over Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Choose Muse Spark 1.3 for latency-first products, customer-facing chat, meta-ecosystem teams. The fastest thing in the table by a distance, and the one to beat on the stress benchmark nobody else talks about.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Muse Spark 1.3?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens on Anthropic's list price (Claude pricing, read Oct 10, 2026). Meta does not publish a simple list price for Muse Spark 1.3; Artificial Analysis estimates a blended $0.78 per million tokens (three input to one output).
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100: 50% independent evals normalised within this table, 20% price-performance, 15% practitioner sentiment from Signals and community threads, 15% operational fit (context, speed, availability, open weights). Models within three points are a tie in practice. Vendor-published figures are labelled as such and never counted as independent. Prices are vendor list prices where published; blended figures assume three input tokens per output token.