Skip to main content
TC
TokenCost

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-4o Mini

Complete pricing and performance comparison between Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 and OpenAI's GPT-4o Mini.

Quick Verdict

Cheaper
GPT-4o Mini
20.0x cheaper input, 25.0x cheaper output
Larger Context
Claude Sonnet 4.6
200K vs 128K
Higher Quality
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Score: 44 vs 13
Faster
GPT-4o Mini
61 vs 54 tok/s

Pricing Comparison

SpecClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-4o MiniDifference
ProviderAnthropicOpenAI
Input / 1M tokens$3$0.15GPT-4o Mini is 95% more expensive
Output / 1M tokens$15$0.6GPT-4o Mini is 96% more expensive
Context Window200K128K2x difference
Max Output64K16K
Tokenizercl100k_baseo200k_base

Performance Benchmarks

MetricClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-4o MiniWinner
Quality Index4413Claude Sonnet 4.6
Output Speed54 tok/s61 tok/sGPT-4o Mini
Time to First Token1.17s0.58sGPT-4o Mini
Value (Quality/$)14.884.0Higher = 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).

UsageClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-4o MiniSavings
Single request
1K in / 300 out
$0.0075$0.0003GPT-4o Mini saves $0.0072
10 requests
10K in / 3K out
$0.075$0.0033GPT-4o Mini saves $0.072
100 requests
100K in / 30K out
$0.750$0.033GPT-4o Mini saves $0.717
1,000 requests
1M in / 300K out
$7.50$0.330GPT-4o Mini saves $7.17
10,000 requests
10M in / 3M out
$75.00$3.30GPT-4o Mini saves $71.70
1M requests/mo
1B in / 300M out
$7500.00$330.00GPT-4o Mini saves $7170.00

Pros & Cons

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Strengths

  • +Larger context window (200K vs 128K)
  • +Higher max output tokens
  • +Higher quality score (44 vs 13)

GPT-4o Mini Strengths

  • +Cheaper input tokens
  • +Cheaper output tokens
  • +Faster output (61 vs 54 tok/s)
  • +Lower latency (faster first token)

When to Use Each Model

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 for

  • →Long documents, large codebases, or multi-turn conversations
  • →Generating long-form content or detailed code
  • →Tasks requiring maximum accuracy and reasoning

Choose GPT-4o Mini for

  • →Budget-conscious projects where cost is the primary factor
  • →Real-time applications, chat, or autocomplete

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o Mini?
For input tokens, GPT-4o Mini is 20.0x cheaper at $0.15/1M tokens. For output tokens, GPT-4o Mini is 25.0x cheaper at $0.6/1M tokens. At typical usage (1M input + 300K output), Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $7.50 vs GPT-4o Mini at $0.330.
What's the context window difference?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 200K context (200,000 tokens), while GPT-4o Mini supports 128K (128,000 tokens). Claude Sonnet 4.6 can handle 2x more context in a single request.
Which model has better benchmarks?
Quality Index: Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 44 vs GPT-4o Mini at 13. Speed: Claude Sonnet 4.6 generates 54 tok/s vs GPT-4o Mini at 61 tok/s. Time to first token: Claude Sonnet 4.6 at 1.17s vs GPT-4o Mini at 0.58s.
When should I choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 over GPT-4o Mini?
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when you need: Larger context window (200K vs 128K), Higher max output tokens, Higher quality score (44 vs 13). Choose GPT-4o Mini when you need: Cheaper input tokens, Cheaper output tokens, Faster output (61 vs 54 tok/s), Lower latency (faster first token).
How much would 10,000 API requests cost?
At 1K input + 300 output tokens per request (typical chat): Claude Sonnet 4.6 = $75.00, GPT-4o Mini = $3.30. At 10K input + 1K output per request (longer conversations): Claude Sonnet 4.6 = $450.00, GPT-4o Mini = $21.00.

Related Comparisons

GPT-4o Mini vs GPT-5.4
$0.15 vs $2.5 per 1M input
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4
$3 vs $2.5 per 1M input
GPT-4o Mini vs GPT-5
$0.15 vs $1.25 per 1M input
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5
$3 vs $1.25 per 1M input
GPT-4o Mini vs GPT-5 Mini
$0.15 vs $0.25 per 1M input
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5 Mini
$3 vs $0.25 per 1M input
Claude Sonnet 4.6 DetailsGPT-4o Mini DetailsFull Pricing TableCost Calculator