Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5

At a Glance

Compare
GPT-5OpenAI
Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency
IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5#24 of 4660.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete#41 of 4615.0 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing LiveBench · full-core range 10.0–43.3
CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate#31 of 44$0.198 per LiveBench caseUnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort
EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5#31 of 3847.3 score · 3/3 sources · completeUnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort
Pricing and Limits
Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$3.00Anthropic · Sep 3, 2026$0.625Openrouter · Sep 3, 2026
Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$15.00Anthropic · Sep 3, 2026$5.00Openrouter · Sep 3, 2026
Context windowMaximum documented tokens1,000K400K
Model facts checkedSep 3, 2026View model evidence →Sep 3, 2026View model evidence →

Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →

Available Benchmarks

All benchmark results →
BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5
ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-ba05d69f6453 · verified_score · leader86.50100% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.6 (High)65.6776% of row best · percent · GPT-5 (High)
ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-6c676fa3e9af · verified_score · leader60.42100% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.6 (High)9.8616% of row best · percent · GPT-5 (High)
LMArena Search Arenasearch-2026-08-24-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader1,221.23100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6-search; 95% CI [1216.39472071, 1226.06821163]; votes 134905; rank 71,132.7793% of row best · rating · gpt-5-search; 95% CI [1126.91788409, 1138.61733849]; votes 20781; rank 30
LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader1,458.26100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1454.67519650, 1461.85096774]; votes 66208; rank 351,406.0696% of row best · rating · gpt-5-high; 95% CI [1401.61960044, 1410.50585480]; votes 31428; rank 136
LMArena Vision Arenavision-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader1,282.72100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1276.36460283, 1289.07266013]; votes 25552; rank 271,209.2294% of row best · rating · gpt-5-high; 95% CI [1202.34954059, 1216.08580885]; votes 34351; rank 76
ToneBench2026-09-11-10-task-4ef099199c9c · overall_score · unverified83.63100% of row best · points · Claude Sonnet 4.6 · 18,675 output tokens / case77.8293% of row best · points · GPT-5 · 5,896 output tokens / case
Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above5 benchmark winsOverall lead0 benchmark wins

Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.

Side-by-Side Facts

FieldClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5
DeveloperAnthropicOpenAI
FamilyClaude 4Gpt 5
ModelClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5
VersionClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5
Lifecycleactiveactive
Released2026-02-172025-08-07
Knowledge cutoff2025-08-012024-09-30
Input modalitiesText, ImageText, Image
Output modalitiesTextText
Context window1,000K400K
Total parametersUnknownUnknown
Active parametersUnknownUnknown
LicenseUnknownUnknown
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes
Self-hostableNoNo
Provider accessAnthropic (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard)Openai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard)
Capabilitieschat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, toolschat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Capabilities

chatgenerationreasoningstructured outputstools
Serving providers2
Canonical IDanthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6

GPT-5 Capabilities

chatgenerationreasoningstructured outputstools
Serving providers2
Canonical IDopenai/gpt-5

Primary Evidence

Sources and Freshness

Questions

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5 FAQs

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5 better for coding?+

This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $3.00 and GPT-5 is $0.625 per million tokens, so GPT-5 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15.00 and GPT-5 is $5.00 per million tokens, so GPT-5 is cheaper on this metric.

Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1,000K and GPT-5 supports 400K.

Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 5 protocol-matched benchmarks from 2 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.

Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5 be self-hosted?+

Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not marked open weight; GPT-5 is not marked open weight.

Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5 understand images?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is documented with image input; GPT-5 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.

Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 128K and GPT-5 is 128K.

Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5 support reasoning and tool use?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. GPT-5: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.

Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 2 sourced provider routes; GPT-5 has 2, a tie.

Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5?+

There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.

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