Latest release
Choose Command A
Command A is the newer release (March 2025, against March 2023 for Claude Instant 1).
Claude Instant 1 vs Command A: price, context and capabilities
Choose Command A for the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.
In short
- Claude Instant 1 has been retired; Command A is the one you can still call.
- A price comparison is not possible: one of them has no comparable published price.
- Command A is the newer model (March 2025, against March 2023).
- Only Command A offers tool calling, structured output.
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Specifications side by side
| Claude Instant 1 | Command A | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Cohere |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Retired | Generally available |
| Headline price | No data | No data |
| Input | No data | No data |
| Output | No data | No data |
| Cached input | No data | No data |
| Context window | No data | 256k |
| Max output | No data | No data |
| Released | March 2023 | March 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | No data |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Capabilities | No data | Tool calling, Structured output |
| API model id | claude-instant-1.2 | command-a-03-2025 |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Claude Instant 1 | Command A |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench Hard | No data | 0.8% |
| GPQA Diamond | No data | 52.7% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | No data | 4% |
| IFBench (instruction following) | No data | 36.5% |
| τ²-Bench (agentic tool use) | No data | 15.2% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | No data | 21.3% |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Claude Instant 1 or Command A?
Choose Command A for the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.
Which is cheaper, Claude Instant 1 or Command A?
A price comparison is not possible: one of them has no comparable published price.
What is the difference between Claude Instant 1 and Command A?
Claude Instant 1 is made by Anthropic and Command A by Cohere. Claude Instant 1 has been retired; Command A is the one you can still call. A price comparison is not possible: one of them has no comparable published price. Command A is the newer model (March 2025, against March 2023). Only Command A offers tool calling, structured output.
Which is newer, Claude Instant 1 or Command A?
Command A was released on March 2025 and Claude Instant 1 on March 2023.