text model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon are both current text models, from Anthropic and Google. Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. On Arena Text, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 1477 Elo and Gemini 4 Carbon 1528 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026).
- Higher Arena Text
- Gemini 4 Carbon1528 Elo against 1477 Elo
- Newer release
- Gemini 4 CarbonOct 2026 against Sep 2026
Data verified November 5, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-05
Side by side
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $2 | $2 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $10 | $10 |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena Text | 1477 Elo (#20 of 52) | 1528 Elo (#1 of 52) (better) |
| Arena WebDev | 1770 Elo (#3 of 46) (better) | 1768 Elo (#4 of 46) |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.6% (#3 of 41) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 88.8% (#8 of 41) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 46.5% (#23 of 38) | Not measured |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Release date | September 28, 2026 | October 28, 2026 |
| Access | API only | limited access |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text, image | text, image |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
On Arena Text, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ranks #20 and Gemini 4 Carbon #1 of 52 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#20of 52
1,477 Elo · ahead of 61%
Gemini 4 Carbon:#1of 52
1,528 Elo · ahead of 100%
Arena WebDev
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#3of 46
1,770 Elo · ahead of 96%
Gemini 4 Carbon:#4of 46
1,768 Elo · ahead of 93%
GPQA Diamond
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#3of 41
95.6% · ahead of 95%
Gemini 4 Carbon: Not scored
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#8of 41
88.8% · ahead of 83%
Gemini 4 Carbon: Not scored
SimpleQA Verified
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#23of 38
46.5% · ahead of 41%
Gemini 4 Carbon: Not scored
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#30of 55
$2 · cheaper than 24%
Gemini 4 Carbon:#30of 55
$2 · cheaper than 24%
Price per 1M output tokens
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#35of 55
$10 · cheaper than 26%
Gemini 4 Carbon:#35of 55
$10 · cheaper than 26%
Context window
Claude Sonnet 5.5:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Gemini 4 Carbon: Not listed
Quality against price
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 1,477 at $4; Gemini 4 Carbon scores 1,528 at $4 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Carbon | $4 | 1,528 | |
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
At each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
The same price
- Claude Sonnet 5.5
- $40
- Gemini 4 Carbon
- $40
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
The same price
- Claude Sonnet 5.5
- $22.90
- Gemini 4 Carbon
- $22.90
| Workload or rate | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $40 | $40 |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $22.90 | $22.90 |
| The same, through the batch API | $20 | Not listed |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.10 | $0.10 |
| 1M input tokens, 5-minute cache write | $2.50 | Not listed |
| 1M input tokens, 1-hour cache write | $4 | Not listed |
| 1M input tokens, batch | $1 | Not listed |
| 1M output tokens, batch | $5 | Not listed |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Where it leads
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1770 Elo vs 1768 Elo
- Batch pricing, $1 input and $5 output per 1M tokens
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 Carbon
Where it leads
- Higher Arena Text score, 1528 Elo vs 1477 Elo
Best for
- Finding, validating and patching vulnerabilities, for teams in Google's Fairwind Program
- Long-horizon engineering over very long inputs, once access opens
Watch out for
- Limited access: Google gives it first to a small group of cyber defenders, then to more trusted partners through its Fairwind Program, which governments, healthcare providers and telecoms apply to; there is no public API or app access yet
- The $2 and $10 rates are introductory, with cached input 95% off; after an introductory period Google has not dated, $4 input and $20 output per 1M tokens apply
- In Google's own table it trails GPT-6 Astra on FrontierSWE 2 (61.2% against 65.5%) and Claude Opus 5.5 on OSWorld-2.1 (81.5% against 87.2%)
- Google publishes no context window or output limit for Carbon yet
From benchmark to production
Building on Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Carbon FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $40 and Gemini 4 Carbon $40 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 charges $0.10 per 1M cached input tokens, 95% below its standard input rate, and Gemini 4 Carbon $0.10, 95% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $22.90 and Gemini 4 Carbon $22.90.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Carbon leads on Arena Text, 1528 Elo to 1477 Elo; Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on Arena WebDev, 1770 Elo to 1768 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Further reading
More on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon
Articles on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon
- Gemini 4 Carbon: Benchmarks, Price and Who Gets It FirstOctober 29, 2026
- Gemini 4 Pro Leaks: What's Verified and What's HypeOctober 1, 2026
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6 Luna: Cost, Speed and AccuracySeptember 29, 2026
- Claude Sonnet 5.5: Benchmarks, Price and When to Use OpusSeptember 29, 2026
Related comparisons
- Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6.1 Sol
- Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
- Claude Opus 4.8 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Gemini 4 Carbon
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
- Gemini 4 Carbon vs GPT-6.1 Sol
- Claude Opus 5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
- Gemini 4 Carbon vs GPT-6 Astra
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon?
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