API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-4o vs Claude 3.5 Haiku

Pick Claude 3.5 Haiku when budget and context both matter.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Claude 3.5 Haiku when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.7 (62.7% lower).

Cost-first pickClaude 3.5 Haiku
Context-first pickClaude 3.5 Haiku
Sample savings$4.762.7%
10x traffic gap$47

Claude 3.5 Haiku is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $47. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Claude 3.5 Haiku stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-4oClaude 3.5 Haiku
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$17.5$6
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$12.5$4.8
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$52.5$20.8
Cheaper input Claude 3.5 Haiku $2.5 vs $0.8 / 1M

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $1.7 cheaper per 1M input tokens (68% lower; 3.12x difference).

Cheaper output Claude 3.5 Haiku $10 vs $4 / 1M

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).

Larger context Claude 3.5 Haiku 128K vs 200K

Claude 3.5 Haiku has 72K more context (1.56x larger).

Sample workload Claude 3.5 Haiku $7.5 vs $2.8

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $4.7 cheaper on the standard workload (62.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-4o Calculating… Estimated API cost
Claude 3.5 Haiku Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… 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

Claude 3.5 Haiku has the lower input price; Claude 3.5 Haiku has the lower output price; Claude 3.5 Haiku offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Claude 3.5 Haiku is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $7.5 for GPT-4o and $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-4o when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose Claude 3.5 Haiku when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.7 (62.7% lower).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $4.7 cheaper on the standard workload (62.7% lower).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $1.7 cheaper per 1M input tokens (68% lower; 3.12x difference).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku has 72K more context (1.56x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureGPT-4o
(OpenAI)
Claude 3.5 Haiku
(Anthropic)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$2.5$0.8
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$10$4
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$7.5$2.8
Context Window128K200K
Release Date
Popularity#101#104

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionClaude 3.5 HaikuOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.7 (62.7% lower).
High-volume input processingClaude 3.5 HaikuLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsClaude 3.5 HaikuLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workClaude 3.5 HaikuA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-4o when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-4o when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-4o when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
  • gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-4o when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Larger context near this budget

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Anthropic catalog

Check other Anthropic models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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GPT-4o

GPT-4o ("o" for "omni") is OpenAI's latest AI model, supporting both text and image inputs with text outputs. It maintains the intelligence level of [GPT-4 Turbo](/models/openai/gpt-4-turbo) while being twice as...

Claude 3.5 Haiku

Claude 3.5 Haiku features offers enhanced capabilities in speed, coding accuracy, and tool use. Engineered to excel in real-time applications, it delivers quick response times that are essential for dynamic...