Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs o4 Mini
Complete pricing and performance comparison between Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 and OpenAI's o4 Mini.
Quick Verdict
Cheaper
o4 Mini
2.7x cheaper input, 3.4x cheaper output
Larger Context
Claude Sonnet 4.5
200K vs 200K
Pricing Comparison
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | o4 Mini | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI | |
| Input / 1M tokens | $3 | $1.1 | o4 Mini is 63% more expensive |
| Output / 1M tokens | $15 | $4.4 | o4 Mini is 71% more expensive |
| Context Window | 200K | 200K | Same |
| Max Output | 64K | 100K | |
| Tokenizer | cl100k_base | o200k_base |
Performance Benchmarks
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | o4 Mini | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Index | -- | 33 | N/A |
| Output Speed | -- | 140 tok/s | N/A |
| Value (Quality/$) | -- | 30.1 | Higher = better value |
Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis. Quality Index is a composite score across reasoning, coding, and knowledge tasks.
Cost at Scale
Estimated cost at different usage levels (3:1 input-to-output token ratio, typical for chat).
| Usage | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | o4 Mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
Single request 1K in / 300 out | $0.0075 | $0.0024 | o4 Mini saves $0.0051 |
10 requests 10K in / 3K out | $0.075 | $0.024 | o4 Mini saves $0.051 |
100 requests 100K in / 30K out | $0.750 | $0.242 | o4 Mini saves $0.508 |
1,000 requests 1M in / 300K out | $7.50 | $2.42 | o4 Mini saves $5.08 |
10,000 requests 10M in / 3M out | $75.00 | $24.20 | o4 Mini saves $50.80 |
1M requests/mo 1B in / 300M out | $7500.00 | $2420.00 | o4 Mini saves $5080.00 |
Pros & Cons
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Strengths
Part of the Anthropic ecosystem
o4 Mini Strengths
- +Cheaper input tokens
- +Cheaper output tokens
- +Higher max output tokens
When to Use Each Model
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 for
- →Projects already integrated with Anthropic's ecosystem
Choose o4 Mini for
- →Budget-conscious projects where cost is the primary factor
- →Generating long-form content or detailed code
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or o4 Mini?
For input tokens, o4 Mini is 2.7x cheaper at $1.1/1M tokens. For output tokens, o4 Mini is 3.4x cheaper at $4.4/1M tokens. At typical usage (1M input + 300K output), Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $7.50 vs o4 Mini at $2.42.
What's the context window difference?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200K context (200,000 tokens), while o4 Mini supports 200K (200,000 tokens). o4 Mini can handle 1x more context in a single request.
Which model has better benchmarks?
When should I choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 over o4 Mini?
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 when you need: a Anthropic ecosystem model. Choose o4 Mini when you need: Cheaper input tokens, Cheaper output tokens, Higher max output tokens.
How much would 10,000 API requests cost?
At 1K input + 300 output tokens per request (typical chat): Claude Sonnet 4.5 = $75.00, o4 Mini = $24.20. At 10K input + 1K output per request (longer conversations): Claude Sonnet 4.5 = $450.00, o4 Mini = $154.00.