API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥GPT-5.4 vs Claude Sonnet 4

Pick GPT-5.4 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-5.4 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.4 is estimated at $10 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4, saving $0.5 (4.8% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-5.4

Context-first pickGPT-5.4

Sample savings$0.54.8%

10x traffic gap$5

GPT-5.4 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GPT-5.4 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GPT-5.4	Claude Sonnet 4
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-5.4	$20	$22.5
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GPT-5.4	$17.5	$18
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GPT-5.4	$77.5	$78

Cheaper input GPT-5.4 $2.5 vs $3 / 1M

GPT-5.4 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).

Cheaper output Tie $15 vs $15 / 1M

Both models report the same output price at $15 per 1M tokens.

Larger context GPT-5.4 1.05M vs 1M

GPT-5.4 has 50K more context (1.05x larger).

Sample workload GPT-5.4 $10 vs $10.5

GPT-5.4 is $0.5 cheaper on the standard workload (4.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GPT-5.4 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Claude Sonnet 4 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

GPT-5.4 has the lower input price; both models tie on output price; GPT-5.4 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5.4 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $10 for GPT-5.4 and $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.4 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

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

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.4 is estimated at $10 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4, saving $0.5 (4.8% lower).
GPT-5.4 is $0.5 cheaper on the standard workload (4.8% lower).
GPT-5.4 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
Both models report the same output price at $15 per 1M tokens.
GPT-5.4 has 50K more context (1.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥GPT-5.4 (OpenAI)	Claude Sonnet 4 (Anthropic)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$2.5	$3
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$15	$15
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$10	$10.5
Context Window	1.05M	1M
Release Date	2026-03-05	2025-05-22
Popularity	#19	#60

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	GPT-5.4	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5.4 is estimated at $10 vs $10.5 for Claude Sonnet 4, saving $0.5 (4.8% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-5.4	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Tie	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5.4	A 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-5.4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.4 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

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-5.4

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Claude Sonnet 4 significantly enhances the capabilities of its predecessor, Sonnet 3.7, excelling in both coding and reasoning tasks with improved precision and controllability. Achieving state-of-the-art performance on SWE-bench (72.7%),...