Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs 🔥GPT-5.5
Pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.5 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 Claude Sonnet 4.6 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.5 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is estimated at $10.5 vs $20 for GPT-5.5, saving $9.5 (47.5% lower).
Cost-first pickClaude Sonnet 4.6
Context-first pickGPT-5.5
Sample savings$9.547.5%
10x traffic gap$95
GPT-5.5 has more context, but Claude Sonnet 4.6 saves $9.5 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
GPT-5.5 has 50K more context (1.05x larger).
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $9.5 cheaper on the standard workload (47.5% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the lower input price; Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the lower output price; GPT-5.5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 and $20 for GPT-5.5.
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose GPT-5.5 when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is estimated at $10.5 vs $20 for GPT-5.5, saving $9.5 (47.5% lower).
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $9.5 cheaper on the standard workload (47.5% lower).
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- GPT-5.5 has 50K more context (1.05x larger).
| Feature | 🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) | 🔥GPT-5.5 (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $3 | $5 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $15 | $30 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $10.5 | $20 |
| Context Window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Release Date | 2026-02-17 | 2026-04-24 |
| Popularity Rank current rank | #3 | #19 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is estimated at $10.5 vs $20 for GPT-5.5, saving $9.5 (47.5% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | GPT-5.5 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
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