Model Comparison
OpenAI's GPT-4o mini costs less per intelligence point, even though Anthropic's Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) scores higher.
Data last updated March 4, 2026
GPT-4o mini delivers more intelligence per dollar, while Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) leads on raw benchmark scores. Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) costs $0.03 per request vs $0.0014 for GPT-4o mini (at 5K input / 1K output tokens). The question is whether Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s higher scores justify the 22x price premium.
| Metric | Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) | GPT-4o mini |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence IndexComposite score from MMLU-Pro, GPQA, and AIME. Higher is better. | 37.1 | 12.6 |
| MMLU-ProGeneral knowledge and reasoning. Higher is better. | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| GPQAGraduate-level science questions. Higher is better. | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Output tokens/secTokens generated per second. Higher means faster responses. | 45.3 | 50.9 |
| Time to first tokenSeconds until first token. Lower is better. | 1.20s | 0.47s |
| Context windowMax tokens per request. Larger handles more text. | 1,000,000 | 128,000 |
List prices as published by the provider. Not adjusted for token efficiency.
| Metric | Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) | GPT-4o mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M tokens | $3.00 | $0.15 |
| Output price / 1M tokens | $15.00 | $0.60 |
| Cache hit price / 1M tokens | $0.30 | $0.08 |
Cost per IQ point based on a typical request of 5,000 input and 1,000 output tokens.
Cheaper (list price)
GPT-4o mini
Higher Benchmarks
Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)
Better Value ($/IQ point)
GPT-4o mini
Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)
$0.0008 / IQ point
GPT-4o mini
$0.0001 / IQ point
GPT-4o mini is dramatically cheaper — 22x less per request than Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning). GPT-4o mini is cheaper on both input ($0.15/M vs $3.0/M) and output ($0.6/M vs $15.0/M). At a fraction of the cost, GPT-4o mini saves significantly in production workloads. This comparison assumes a typical request of 5,000 input and 1,000 output tokens (5:1 ratio). Actual ratios vary by workload — chat and completion tasks typically run 2:1, code review around 3:1, document analysis and summarization 10:1 to 50:1, and embedding workloads are pure input with no output tokens.
Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) scores higher overall (37.1 vs 12.6). Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) leads on MMLU-Pro (0.86 vs 0.65), GPQA (0.73 vs 0.43). Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s GPQA score of 0.73 makes it stronger for technical and scientific tasks.
GPT-4o mini is 12% faster at 50.9 tokens per second compared to Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) at 45.3 tokens per second. GPT-4o mini also starts generating sooner at 0.47s vs 1.20s time to first token. The speed difference matters for chatbots but is less relevant in batch processing.
Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) has a much larger context window — 1,000,000 tokens vs GPT-4o mini at 128,000 tokens. That's roughly 1,333 vs 170 pages of text. Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s window can handle entire codebases or book-length documents; GPT-4o mini works better for shorter inputs.
GPT-4o mini offers dramatically better value — $0.0001 per intelligence point vs Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) at $0.0008. GPT-4o mini is cheaper, which offsets Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s higher benchmark scores to deliver more value per dollar. If raw benchmark scores matter less than cost for your use case, GPT-4o mini is the efficient choice.
With prompt caching, GPT-4o mini is dramatically cheaper — 17x less per request than Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning). Caching saves 45% on Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) and 28% on GPT-4o mini compared to standard input prices. Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) benefits more from caching. If your workload has repetitive prompts, Claude 4.5 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s cache discount gives it a bigger cost advantage than list prices suggest.
Pricing verified against official vendor documentation. Updated daily. See our methodology.
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