Anthropic has released over a dozen Claude models since the first public launch in March 2023. This page is the complete record — every model, its release date, the key capability it introduced, and its current status. It’s updated when Anthropic ships new releases.
The Complete Claude Model Timeline
| Model | Released | Key Capability | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude 1 | March 2023 | First public release. Constitutional AI, 100K context. | Retired |
| Claude 1.3 | July 2023 | Improved reasoning and code generation. | Retired |
| Claude 2 | July 2023 | Doubled context to 100K, stronger coding and analysis. | Retired |
| Claude 2.1 | November 2023 | Reduced hallucination rate, tool use support added. | Retired |
| Claude 3 Haiku | March 2024 | Fastest, cheapest Claude 3 tier. Near-instant responses. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3 Sonnet | March 2024 | Balanced performance/cost. First strong coding model. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3 Opus | March 2024 | Top benchmark scores at launch. Best reasoning of the generation. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet | June 2024 | Outperformed prior Opus on most benchmarks at Sonnet price. Landmark release. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3.5 Haiku | October 2024 | Speed/cost tier for Claude 3.5 generation. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2 | October 2024 | Computer use capability introduced. Improved coding. | Deprecated |
| Claude 3.7 Sonnet | February 2025 | Extended thinking. First Claude with explicit chain-of-thought reasoning. | Deprecated |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | May 2025 | Claude 4 generation launch. Major coding gains, SWE-bench leadership. | ⚠ Retiring June 15, 2026 |
| Claude Opus 4 | May 2025 | Maximum capability in Claude 4 generation at launch. | ⚠ Retiring June 15, 2026 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | October 2025 | Speed/cost tier for 4.x generation. 200K context. | ✅ Current |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | February 5, 2026 | 1M token context window (beta then GA). Improved long-horizon reasoning. | ✅ Current flagship |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | February 17, 2026 | Near-Opus performance. 1M token context. Dramatically improved computer use. | ✅ Current default |
The Generational Leaps That Mattered Most
Claude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024) — The Benchmark Flip
This was the release that established Claude as a serious competitor to GPT-4. Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperformed Claude 3 Opus on most benchmarks at half the cost — the first time a Sonnet-tier model beat the prior generation’s flagship. It also introduced Artifacts, the interactive output canvas that became a defining Claude feature. Every generation since has followed this pattern: new Sonnet outperforms prior Opus.
Claude 3.7 Sonnet (February 2025) — Extended Thinking
Extended thinking gave Claude an explicit reasoning layer before responding — the model could work through a problem step-by-step before committing to an answer. This was Anthropic’s answer to OpenAI’s o1 and marked the beginning of “reasoning models” as a mainstream concept in Claude’s lineup.
Claude Sonnet 4 (May 2025) — Coding Leadership
The Claude 4 launch pushed Claude to the top of SWE-bench Verified, the real-world software engineering benchmark that matters most to developers. Claude Code launched alongside it and reached $1B in annualized revenue by November 2025 — one of the fastest-growing developer tools in history.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (February 2026) — Computer Use at Scale
The 4.6 generation’s most significant practical advance was dramatically improved computer use — Claude’s ability to navigate browsers, fill forms, click through interfaces, and operate software autonomously. Combined with the 1M token context window reaching general availability, this made Claude genuinely useful for long-horizon agentic tasks that previously required constant human intervention.
What Comes Next
Claude 5 is expected Q2-Q3 2026. No official announcement as of April 2026. The pattern suggests Claude 5 Sonnet will outperform current Opus 4.6 at lower cost — consistent with every prior generation transition. See Claude 5 Release Date: What We Know.
For current API strings and deprecation deadlines, see the Current Claude Model Version Tracker.
When was Claude first released?
Claude 1 launched publicly in March 2023. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, and Claude was in limited testing before the public launch.
How many Claude models are there?
As of April 2026, Anthropic has released approximately 16 public model versions across 5 generations (Claude 1 through Claude 4.6). Three models are currently active: Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6, and Haiku 4.5.
What was the best Claude model ever released?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (February 2026) holds the current highest benchmark scores and represents the peak of the Claude 4 generation. On SWE-bench Verified it scores 79.6% — among the highest of any model at its release.
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