text model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-5.4
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-5.4 are both current text models, from Anthropic and OpenAI. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 20% cheaper per 1M input tokens than GPT-5.4, $2 vs $2.50. On Arena Text, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 1476 Elo and GPT-5.4 1475 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026). GPT-5.4 has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
Data verified October 12, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-12
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | GPT-5.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $2 (better) | $2.50 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $10 (better) | $15 |
| Cost of 10M input and 2M output tokens | $40 (better) | $55 |
| Arena Text | 1476 Elo (#17 of 39) (better) | 1475 Elo (#18 of 39) |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.6% (#2 of 37) (better) | 93.3% (#13 of 37) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 88.8% (#7 of 37) (better) | 78.6% (#15 of 37) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 46.5% (#21 of 34) (better) | 45.1% (#23 of 34) |
| LiveBench Overall | Not measured | 77.97 points (#3 of 5) |
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Release date | September 28, 2026 | March 5, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,050,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Input | text, image | text, image |
| Output | text | text |
Scores:Arena · 2026-10-12Epoch AI · 2026-10-12LiveBench · 2026-06-25
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
GPT-5.4
Best for
- Long-context coding and professional-work evaluations
Watch out for
- Prompts above the provider long-context threshold use higher token rates; reproduce cost and quality on the target workload
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-5.4 FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-5.4?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 20% cheaper per 1M input tokens than GPT-5.4, $2 vs $2.50. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $40 and GPT-5.4 $55 at standard rates.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-5.4?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on Arena Text, 1476 Elo to 1475 Elo; Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on GPQA Diamond, 95.6% to 93.3%; Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2), 88.8% to 78.6%. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GPT-5.4?
GPT-5.4 has the larger context window, 1,050,000 vs 1,000,000 tokens.
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- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Qwen3.8-Max
- Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-5.4?
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