Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Llama Guard 4 12B
Price and specs side by side · USD per 1M tokens · verified 2026-10-23
// side by side
| metric | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Llama Guard 4 12B |
|---|
| input / 1M | $0.10 | $0.18 |
| output / 1M | $0.50 | $0.18 |
| blended (3:1) | $0.20 | $0.18 |
| cache read / 1M | $0.01 | — |
| context | 1M | 163.8K |
| max output | 128K | 163.8K |
| input types | text · image · pdf | text · image |
| reasoning | yes | no |
| tool calling | yes | no |
| structured output | yes | no |
| open weights | no | yes |
| released | 2026-10-07 | 2025-04-29 |
| knowledge cutoff | 2026-06 | n/a |
| lab | Anthropic | Meta |
// monthly cost scenarios
| workload | tokens in / out | Claude Haiku 5.5 | Llama Guard 4 12B |
|---|
| Chatbot | 10M / 2M | $2.00 | $2.16 |
| RAG app | 50M / 5M | $7.50 | $9.90 |
| Coding agent | 20M / 10M | $7.00 | $5.40 |
// verdict
- Llama Guard 4 12B is 10% cheaper than Claude Haiku 5.5 on a blended 3:1 input/output basis.
- Claude Haiku 5.5 has the larger context window (1M vs 163.8K tokens).
- Only Claude Haiku 5.5 supports built-in reasoning.
- Only Claude Haiku 5.5 supports tool calling.
- Only Claude Haiku 5.5 supports structured output.
- Chatbot (10M input / 2M output tokens per month): Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $2.00 vs $2.16 for Llama Guard 4 12B, saving $0.16 per month.
- RAG app (50M input / 5M output tokens per month): Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $7.50 vs $9.90 for Llama Guard 4 12B, saving $2.40 per month.
- Coding agent (20M input / 10M output tokens per month): Llama Guard 4 12B costs $5.40 vs $7.00 for Claude Haiku 5.5, saving $1.60 per month.
// Claude Haiku 5.5 or Llama Guard 4 12B: which one to choose
- Choose Llama Guard 4 12B for cost-sensitive, high-volume workloads.
- Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 for long documents and large codebases (1M-token context).
- Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if you need built-in reasoning.
- Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if you need tool calling.
- Choose Claude Haiku 5.5 if you need structured output.
- Choose Llama Guard 4 12B if you want open weights you can self-host.