API cost decision in 10 seconds
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs 🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6
Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when budget and context both matter.
Pricing data updated:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is estimated at $8 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $2.5 (23.8% lower).
Cost-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Sample savings$2.523.8%
10x traffic gap$25
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $16 | $22.5 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $14 | $18 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | $62 | $78 |
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
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has the lower input price, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has the lower output price, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview offers the larger context window.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
| Feature | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (Google) | 🔥Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $2 | $3 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $12 | $15 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $8 | $10.5 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Release Date | 2026-02-19 | 2026-02-17 |
| Popularity | #4 |
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is Google’s frontier reasoning model, delivering enhanced software engineering performance, improved agentic reliability, and more efficient token usage across complex workflows. Building on the multimodal foundation...
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...
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is estimated at $8 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.6, saving $2.5 (23.8% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files. |