What Claude coding model for PHP MySQL SQLite website?

For your PHP + MySQL + SQLite CoinMarketCap-style website, I’d recommend Claude Sonnet as your everyday coding model, rather than using Opus for everything.

You want something that can build admin panels, SEO analytics, traffic dashboards, ad management, database queries, PHP APIs, and fix bugs — without burning through your Claude 5-hour usage window too quickly.

My ranking for your project

1. Claude Sonnet 5.5

Best overall choice

Everyday development · Best balance

Best for building PHP features, MySQL queries, admin dashboards, CRUD operations, API integrations, and debugging. Anthropic recommends Sonnet for most coding work because it balances capability and usage efficiency.

2. Claude Haiku 5.5

Cheapest · Simple tasks

Use for small CSS changes, simple PHP fixes, repetitive edits, basic SQL queries, and boilerplate. For complex features spanning many files, Sonnet is the safer default.

3. Claude Opus 5.5

Complex engineering · Use selectively

Reserve it for difficult database architecture, security problems, major refactors, or bugs Sonnet cannot solve. Using Opus for routine work can consume your allowance considerably faster.

My recommended setup

How to avoid hitting the 5-hour limit

1. Use Sonnet as your default, not Opus.
2. Work on one feature at a time instead of asking Claude to build the entire website in one enormous task.
3. Run /clear when moving to an unrelated task, or /compact when you need to preserve the current task’s context.
4. Ask Claude to inspect only the relevant files and propose a plan before changing multiple files.
5. Check /status to monitor subscription usage. These practices are recommended in Anthropic’s Claude Code usage guide .

One important distinction: switching to a cheaper model helps manage usage, but it cannot guarantee that you won’t hit the five-hour limit. Your plan, codebase size, conversation length, and task complexity all affect consumption.

For your PHP + MySQL + SQLite website, Sonnet 5.5 at Medium effort is my recommendation for most coding tasks. Use Opus 5.5 at Medium only when you need stronger reasoning for difficult architecture or debugging.

The prices below are Anthropic’s official API prices, not monthly Claude subscription prices.

1. Official model pricing

Opus costs twice as much per input and output token. Effort settings can also change how many tokens a task uses.

2. Should you use Low or Medium?

Low and Medium are reasoning-effort settings, not separate subscription prices. They affect how much reasoning the model uses and can affect total token consumption.

3. Exact settings I would use

Daily coding

Sonnet 5.5 — Medium

PHP pages, CRUD, MySQL queries, SQLite support, SEO tools, analytics dashboards, and routine debugging.

Simple edits

Sonnet 5.5 — Low

CSS, small UI changes, simple validation, and repetitive fixes.

Hard problems

Opus 5.5 — Medium

Database architecture, difficult bugs, security reviews, and major refactoring.

If you use Claude Code, select the model and effort with:

text

/model claude-sonnet-5-5
/effort medium

For a simple task, switch to /effort low. Commands and available effort levels can vary with your Claude Code version.

Important: If you’re using a Claude Pro or Max subscription, these API dollar rates aren’t what you pay per task. Your subscription has usage limits, and using Low or Medium does not guarantee you will stay under the five-hour limit.

My final recommendation: Start with Sonnet 5.5 + Medium, switch to Low for trivial edits, and avoid using Opus as your default. That is the best starting setup for your PHP/MySQL/SQLite project if conserving your five-hour allowance is the priority.