API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Granite 4.0 Micro

Pick Granite 4.0 Micro for lower cost; pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Granite 4.0 Micro for lower cost; pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.0 Micro is estimated at $0.07 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $10.43 (99.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGranite 4.0 Micro
Context-first pickClaude Sonnet 4.6
Sample savings$10.4399.3%
10x traffic gap$104.27

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has more context, but Granite 4.0 Micro saves $10.43 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $104.27. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Granite 4.0 Micro stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickClaude Sonnet 4.6Granite 4.0 Micro
Input-heavy / RAG 5M input + 500K output Granite 4.0 Micro $22.5 $0.14
Balanced workload 1M input + 1M output Granite 4.0 Micro $18 $0.13
Output-heavy chatbot 1M input + 5M output Granite 4.0 Micro $78 $0.58
Cheaper inputGranite 4.0 Micro$3 vs $0.02 / 1M
Cheaper outputGranite 4.0 Micro$15 vs $0.11 / 1M
Larger contextClaude Sonnet 4.61M vs 131K
Sample workloadGranite 4.0 Micro$10.5 vs $0.07

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Claude Sonnet 4.6Calculating…Estimated API cost
Granite 4.0 MicroCalculating…Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workloadCalculating…Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Granite 4.0 Micro has the lower input price, Granite 4.0 Micro has the lower output price, and Claude Sonnet 4.6 offers the larger context window.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and $0.07 for Granite 4.0 Micro.

Best Fit

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Granite 4.0 Micro when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6
(Anthropic)		Granite 4.0 Micro
(IBM)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$3$0.02
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$15$0.11
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$10.5$0.07
Context Window1M131K
Release Date2026-02-172025-10-20
Popularity#4
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Sonnet 4.6 is Anthropic's most capable Sonnet-class model yet, with frontier performance across coding, agents, and professional work. It excels at iterative development, complex codebase navigation, end-to-end project management with...

Granite 4.0 Micro

Granite-4.0-H-Micro is a 3B parameter from the Granite 4 family of models. These models are the latest in a series of models released by IBM. They are fine-tuned for long...

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGranite 4.0 MicroOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.0 Micro is estimated at $0.07 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $10.43 (99.3% lower).
High-volume input processingGranite 4.0 MicroLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGranite 4.0 MicroLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workClaude Sonnet 4.6A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files.