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Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4: API Cost Comparison

Compare the API pricing, context windows, features, and real-world cost projections for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) and GPT-5.4 (OpenAI). Use the interactive calculator below to compute your exact monthly cost based on your token usage and request volume.

Prices verified Mar 24, 2026

Interactive Cost Calculator

AnthropicClaude Sonnet 4.6OpenAIGPT-5.4

Fills in typical token counts for a workload type

Tokens in each prompt sent to the model

Tokens generated in each response

Total API calls per month

Showing costs for 2 models. Cheapest: GPT-5.4 at $100.00/month.

Cheapest: GPT-5.4 at $100.00/mo — save 4.8% vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Alert
BestGPT-5.4
OpenAI$100.00$0.010000$25.00$75.004.8%Alerts coming soon
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Anthropic$105.00$0.010500$30.00$75.00Alerts coming soon

Monthly Cost Comparison

Price Comparison at a Glance

All prices are in USD per 1 million tokens ($/M tokens). Lower is cheaper.

Pricing TypeClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5.4Cheaper
Input (standard)$3.00/M$2.50/MGPT-5.4
Output$15.00/M$15.00/M
Cached input$0.30/M$0.25/MGPT-5.4
Batch input$1.50/MN/A
Batch output$7.50/MN/A

Prices last verified: 2026-03-08 – 2026-03-24

Cost Breakdown by Usage Volume

Estimated monthly costs at different request volumes, assuming 1,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens per request. Adjust in the calculator above for your specific use case.

VolumeClaude Sonnet 4.6MonthlyGPT-5.4MonthlyClaude Sonnet 4.6Per requestGPT-5.4Per request
1K requests/mo$10.50$10.00$0.010500$0.010000
10K requests/mo$105.00$100.00$0.010500$0.010000
100K requests/mo$1,050.00$1,000.00$0.010500$0.010000
1M requests/mo$10,500.00$10,000.00$0.010500$0.010000

Green values indicate the lower-cost option at each volume tier. Cost per request is calculated at 1,000 input + 500 output tokens using standard (non-batch, non-cached) pricing.

Price History

Input price per 1M tokens

When to Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6

by Anthropic

  • Code generation
  • Content & copywriting
  • RAG / Semantic search

Input / 1M tokens

$3.00/M

Output / 1M tokens

$15.00/M

Context window

200,000

Tier

mid

When to Choose GPT-5.4

by OpenAI

  • Code generation
  • Document summarization
  • RAG / Semantic search

Input / 1M tokens

$2.50/M

Output / 1M tokens

$15.00/M

Context window

1,050,000

Tier

premium

Key Differences Beyond Price

Cost is only one factor in choosing an AI model. Context window size, rate limits, supported features, and latency all affect whether a model fits your use case.

CapabilityClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5.4
Context window200,000 tokens1,050,000 tokens
Max output tokens64,000 tokens128,000 tokens
Performance tierMidPremium
Vision / image inputYesYes
Function callingYesYes
JSON modeYesYes
Prompt cachingYesYes
Batch API (50% discount)YesNo
Extended reasoningYesNo
Fine-tuningNoNo
Rate limit (req/min)4,00010,000

Claude Sonnet 4.6 notes

Latest Sonnet. Extended thinking mode for complex reasoning. Strong coding benchmarks.

GPT-5.4 notes

Latest and most powerful OpenAI model. 1.05M context window. Prompts over 272K input tokens priced at 2x input and 1.5x output.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than GPT-5.4?

At standard usage (1,000 input tokens, 500 output tokens, 100,000 requests/month), GPT-5.4 costs $1,000.00/month versus $1,050.00/month for Claude Sonnet 4.6 — a 5% saving. Your actual savings will vary based on your token profile; output-heavy workloads amplify differences in output pricing.

Which model has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.4?

GPT-5.4 has a larger context window at 1,050,000 tokens, compared to 200,000 tokens for Claude Sonnet 4.6. A larger context window is important for processing long documents, multi-turn conversations, or large codebases without truncation.

Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.4 support the Batch API?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports the Batch API (50% discount for async processing), while GPT-5.4 does not. If your workload tolerates up to 24-hour latency, routing to Claude Sonnet 4.6 with batch pricing could significantly cut costs versus GPT-5.4's standard rate.

Which model offers better prompt caching?

Both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.4 support prompt caching. Claude Sonnet 4.6 caches repeated input at $0.30/M (vs $3.00/M standard), while GPT-5.4 caches at $0.25/M (vs $2.50/M standard). For workloads with large, repeated system prompts or document context, caching can reduce effective input costs by 60–90%.

What are the best use cases for Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4?

Both models are well-suited for Code generation, RAG / Semantic search. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is particularly strong for Content & copywriting. GPT-5.4 is favored for Document summarization. At the same quality level, the lower-cost model is usually preferable; use this page's calculator to compare total monthly spend at your volume.

What is the cost per request for Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4?

At 1,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens per request — a typical conversational workload — Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $0.010500 per request and GPT-5.4 costs $0.010000 per request. At 100,000 requests/month, that translates to $1,050.00 and $1,000.00 respectively. Use the interactive calculator to adjust these parameters for your actual workload.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4: Summary

When comparing Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.4 for API cost, the right choice depends on your workload's token profile, required features, and tolerance for latency. GPT-5.4 offers lower total cost at standard usage volumes (1,000 input + 500 output tokens per request at 100,000 requests/month) at $1,000.00/month, compared to $1,050.00/month for Claude Sonnet 4.6.

Both models are priced in USD per million tokens, the standard unit across all major AI API providers. Claude Sonnet 4.6 charges $3.00/M for input tokens and $15.00/M for output tokens. GPT-5.4 charges $2.50/M input and $15.00/M output. If your workload is output-heavy (more tokens generated than consumed as input), the model with the lower output price compounds cost savings significantly at scale.

Prompt caching is supported by both models. For workloads with large, repeated system prompts or document context — such as RAG pipelines or multi-turn conversations with a fixed knowledge base — prompt caching can reduce effective input costs by 60–90%, which may change the cost ranking between these two models at your specific usage pattern.

Context window capacity differs between the two: GPT-5.4 supports up to 1,050,000 tokens in a single request, versus 200,000 tokens for Claude Sonnet 4.6. A larger context window is essential for document summarization, large codebase analysis, and multi-document retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.

Use the interactive calculator at the top of this page to enter your actual token usage and monthly request volume for a precise cost comparison tailored to your workload. Adjust for batch API discounts and prompt caching to find the most cost-effective option for your specific deployment.

Explore other model comparisons from the same providers or performance tiers.

Related Provider Pages

View complete pricing tables and model lineups for the providers behind these models.

Relevant Use Cases

See cost recommendations for workloads where Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.4 is recommended.