Claude Sonnet 4 vs GPT-4o
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Claude Sonnet 4 specs · GPT-4o specs- PriceGPT-4o
GPT-4o is roughly 1.5× cheaper on output tokens ($10.00 vs $15.00 per 1M).
- Context windowClaude Sonnet 4
Claude Sonnet 4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesGPT-4o
GPT-4o supports 3 modalities (text, vision, audio) vs 2 for Claude Sonnet 4.
- OpennessTie
Both are closed-weight, API-only.
On balance GPT-4o edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Claude Sonnet 4's 1. GPT-4o is roughly 1.5× cheaper on output tokens ($10.00 vs $15.00 per 1M). Claude Sonnet 4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Claude Sonnet 4 handles text, vision while GPT-4o handles text, vision, audio, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.
Claude Sonnet 4 is the newer of the two, released 12 months after GPT-4o, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Claude Sonnet 4 is usually picked for coding llm and rag workloads, while GPT-4o sees more deployments in chatbots and vision. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 4 | GPT-4o |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Released | May 2025 | May 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text, vision, audio |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $2.50 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $15.00 / 1M tokens | $10.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-03 | 2023-10 |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$31.50 vs $22.50
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $225
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $435
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $31.50 vs $22.50 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $315 vs $225 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $540 vs $435 per month, model B comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Claude Sonnet 4$1.05
- GPT-4o$0.750
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU,88.7
- HumanEval,90.2
- SWE-bench Verified65.0
Claude Sonnet 4 fits when…
- Solid all-rounder
- Mature deployment ecosystem
- Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o.
GPT-4o fits when…
- Native multimodal
- Mature SDK and tooling
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 1.5× cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4 on output tokens.
- Multimodal needs covering audio.
Consider Claude Opus 4.7
Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.
Frequently asked
Is Claude Sonnet 4 or GPT-4o cheaper?
GPT-4o is cheaper at $10.00 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $15.00 / 1M tokens for Claude Sonnet 4.Which has the larger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o.Is Claude Sonnet 4 or GPT-4o better for coding?
Both Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.When were Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o released?
Claude Sonnet 4 was released by Anthropic on 2025-05-22. GPT-4o was released by OpenAI on 2024-05-13.
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