text model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon are both current text models, from Anthropic and Google. Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. On Arena Text, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 1476 Elo and Gemini 4 Argon 1525 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026).
Data verified October 13, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-13
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $2 | $2 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $10 | $10 |
| Cost of 10M input and 2M output tokens | $40 | $40 |
| Arena Text | 1476 Elo (#20 of 49) | 1525 Elo (#1 of 49) (better) |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.6% (#2 of 40) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 88.8% (#7 of 40) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 46.5% (#22 of 36) | Not measured |
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Release date | September 28, 2026 | September 30, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Input | text, image | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
When to choose each
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Best for
- Production workloads that need frontier-adjacent quality at a mid-tier rate
- Latency-sensitive agent steps inside a larger pipeline
Watch out for
- Same list price as Claude Sonnet 5, so the gain is capability and cache economics rather than a cheaper rate card
- Anthropic positions Opus 5.5 rather than this as the default, so reach for Sonnet 5.5 when latency matters more than peak capability
Gemini 4 Argon
Best for
- Long-horizon coding and knowledge work once it reaches general API access
Watch out for
- Access is limited: Google is rolling it out first to cyber defenders in its Fairwind Program, and no Gemini API model id or pricing page entry exists yet
- The $2 input and $10 output rate is introductory with no end date; Google says $4 and $20 per 1M tokens applies afterwards
- Google has not published the context window
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $40 and Gemini 4 Argon $40 at standard rates.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon leads on Arena Text, 1525 Elo to 1476 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Related comparisons
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 4 Argon
- Claude Fable 5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-4.1
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-5.4
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6.1 Sol
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6 Sol
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Grok 4.5
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Grok 4.6
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty