Comparison page
GPT-5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Compare current flagship production models from OpenAI and Anthropic for high-value workflows.
Side-by-side pricing
The table uses the same example request on both models so you can compare balanced flagship production work without changing the prompt shape.
Input 1,000 / Output 250
| Model | Input / 1M | Cached input / 1M | Output / 1M | Example request | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GPT-5 OpenAI's current flagship general-purpose model for complex work. | $1.25 | No public rate | $10.0 | $0.0037 | OpenAI pricing |
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic's current balanced production model for everyday writing, analysis, and automation. | $3.00 | No public rate | $15.0 | $0.0067 | Anthropic pricing |
When to choose each model
GPT-5
Choose GPT-5 when you want the economics or capability profile of OpenAI and you can justify the published rate.
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when you need the second option in this comparison and want to test whether it lowers spend without hurting the workflow.
Use cases
- • Customer support automation with strong instruction following.
- • Drafting, editing, and summarization workflows.
- • Picking a default model for a production AI assistant.
If the prompt is noisy or repetitive, run it through the prompt optimizer first.
If the brief is too loose, use the context engineer to tighten the instructions before you compare models again.
For the broader pricing strategy, read the LLM cost optimization pillar and the cost-per-million-tokens cheat sheet.
FAQ
Which model is cheaper?
GPT-5 is the lower-cost starting point on the current public rates, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 sits slightly higher on input pricing.
When would Claude win?
Claude can still win when your team prefers Anthropic behavior, especially for writing-heavy or analysis-heavy tasks.
Should I test my own prompt?
Yes. Use the calculator with your real input and output lengths before you switch production traffic.