Model Comparison
Anthropic's Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) costs more but its benchmark edge makes it better value per dollar.
Data last updated March 4, 2026
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) costs more, but its benchmark advantage earns it better value per intelligence point than GPT-4o. Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) costs $0.03 per request vs $0.0225 for GPT-4o (at 5K input / 1K output tokens). GPT-4o generates tokens at 117/sec vs Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s 48/sec. The question is whether Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s higher scores justify paying 33% more.
| Metric | Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) | GPT-4o |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence IndexComposite score from MMLU-Pro, GPQA, and AIME. Higher is better. | 33.0 | 17.3 |
| MMLU-ProGeneral knowledge and reasoning. Higher is better. | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| GPQAGraduate-level science questions. Higher is better. | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| AIMEMathematical problem solving. Higher is better. | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Output tokens/secTokens generated per second. Higher means faster responses. | 48.5 | 116.8 |
| Time to first tokenSeconds until first token. Lower is better. | 1.03s | 0.44s |
| Context windowMax tokens per request. Larger handles more text. | 200,000 | 128,000 |
List prices as published by the provider. Not adjusted for token efficiency.
| Metric | Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) | GPT-4o |
|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M tokens | $3.00 | $2.50 |
| Output price / 1M tokens | $15.00 | $10.00 |
| Cache hit price / 1M tokens | $0.30 | $1.25 |
Cost per IQ point based on a typical request of 5,000 input and 1,000 output tokens.
Cheaper (list price)
GPT-4o
Higher Benchmarks
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)
Better Value ($/IQ point)
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)
$0.0009 / IQ point
GPT-4o
$0.0013 / IQ point
GPT-4o is 33% cheaper per request than Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning). GPT-4o is cheaper on both input ($2.5/M vs $3.0/M) and output ($10.0/M vs $15.0/M). The 33% price gap matters at scale but is less significant for low-volume use cases. 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 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) scores higher overall (33.0 vs 17.3). Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) leads on MMLU-Pro (0.84 vs 0.75), GPQA (0.68 vs 0.54), AIME (0.41 vs 0.15). If mathematical reasoning matters, Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s AIME score of 0.41 gives it an edge.
GPT-4o is 141% faster at 116.8 tokens per second compared to Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) at 48.5 tokens per second. GPT-4o also starts generating sooner at 0.44s vs 1.03s time to first token. The speed difference matters for chatbots but is less relevant in batch processing.
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) has a 56% larger context window at 200,000 tokens vs GPT-4o at 128,000 tokens. That's roughly 266 vs 170 pages of text. The extra context capacity in Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) matters for document analysis and long conversations.
Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) offers 43% better value at $0.0009 per intelligence point compared to GPT-4o at $0.0013. GPT-4o is cheaper, but Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning)'s higher benchmark scores give it more intelligence per dollar. You don't sacrifice quality to save money with Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning).
With prompt caching, GPT-4o and Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) cost about the same per request. Caching saves 45% on Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) and 28% on GPT-4o compared to standard input prices. Claude 4 Sonnet (Non-reasoning) benefits more from caching. If your workload has repetitive prompts, Claude 4 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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