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Claude Sonnet 4 vs GPT-4o mini

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 mini specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceGPT-4o mini

    GPT-4o mini is roughly 25.0× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 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.

  • ModalitiesTie

    Both handle text, vision.

  • OpennessTie

    Both are closed-weight, API-only.

It's a genuine coin-flip between Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o mini: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. GPT-4o mini is roughly 25.0× cheaper on output tokens ($0.60 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. Both target the same set of modalities (text, vision), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

Claude Sonnet 4 is the newer of the two, released 10 months after GPT-4o mini, 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 mini sees more deployments in customer support and summarization. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecClaude Sonnet 4GPT-4o mini
ProviderAnthropicOpenAI
ReleasedMay 2025Jul 2024
Modalitiestext, visiontext, vision
Context window200K tokens128K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1M$3.00 / 1M tokens$0.15 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$15.00 / 1M tokens$0.60 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff2025-03,
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes

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 $1.35
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs $13.50
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 vs $26.10

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $31.50 vs $1.35 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $315 vs $13.50 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $540 vs $26.10 per month, model B comes out ahead.

Price calculator

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 mini$0.045

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Claude Sonnet 4GPT-4o mini
  • MMLU,82.0
  • SWE-bench Verified65.0
Pick Claude Sonnet 4 if

Claude Sonnet 4 fits when…

  • Solid all-rounder
  • Mature deployment ecosystem
  • Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for GPT-4o mini.
Pick GPT-4o mini if

GPT-4o mini fits when…

  • Cheap
  • Fast
  • Mature
  • Cost-sensitive workloads, 25.0× cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4 on output tokens.
Don't want either?

Consider Claude Opus 4.7

Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.

See Claude Opus 4.7 specsClaude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Opus 4.7GPT-4o mini vs Claude Opus 4.7

Frequently asked

  • Is Claude Sonnet 4 or GPT-4o mini cheaper?
    GPT-4o mini is cheaper at $0.60 / 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 mini.
  • Is Claude Sonnet 4 or GPT-4o mini better for coding?
    Both Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o mini 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 mini released?
    Claude Sonnet 4 was released by Anthropic on 2025-05-22. GPT-4o mini was released by OpenAI on 2024-07-18.
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