Claude isn't one model — it's a family. Anthropic offers three tiers: Opus (the most capable), Sonnet (the balanced middle), and Haiku (the fastest and cheapest). Picking the right one for each task is how you optimize both quality and cost.
Opus: the heavy lifter. Use Opus when the task requires deep reasoning, nuanced judgment, or complex analysis — strategic planning documents, detailed financial analysis, legal review, or any task where getting it wrong is expensive. Think of it as your senior consultant.
Sonnet: the daily workhorse. Sonnet is where most business users should spend most of their time. It's fast, capable, and significantly cheaper than Opus. Email drafting, meeting summaries, research, brainstorming — Sonnet handles all of this well. For 80% of daily tasks, Sonnet's quality is indistinguishable from Opus.
Haiku: the speed demon. Haiku is optimized for speed and cost. Use it for high-volume, straightforward tasks: categorizing support tickets, generating product descriptions, answering FAQ-style questions. It's ideal for automated workflows where cost per query matters.
The practical framework. Map your tasks to tiers: Haiku for volume and speed, Sonnet for daily work, Opus for stakes and complexity. Most SMBs should default to Sonnet and reach for Opus only when the task justifies it. This isn't about being cheap — it's about matching capability to need.