Claude Opus 4.5 vs Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

Claude Opus 4.5 (2025) and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and Google DeepMind. Claude Opus 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while Gemma 4 26B A4B IT ships a 256k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Claude Opus 4.5 leads by 6.3 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is ~8233% cheaper at $0.06/1M; pay for Claude Opus 4.5 only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalClaude Opus 4.5Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agentsmultimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window200k256k
Cheapest output$25/1M tokens$0.33/1M tokens
Provider routes6 tracked9 tracked
Shared benchmarksMMLU PRO leader2 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 when...
  • Claude Opus 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 6.3 points.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 uniquely exposes Reasoning and Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Claude Opus 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B IT when...
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.33/1M tokens.
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Local decision data tags Gemma 4 26B A4B IT for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

Claude Opus 4.5

$10,250

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

$131

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $10,120. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Claude Opus 4.5 -> Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
  • Provider overlap exists on GCP Vertex AI, OpenRouter, and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is $24.67/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Reasoning and Code execution before moving production traffic.
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT -> Claude Opus 4.5
  • Provider overlap exists on GCP Vertex AI, OpenRouter, and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 is $24.67/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Claude Opus 4.5 adds Reasoning and Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-11-012026-03-31
Context window200k256k
Parameters—26B
ArchitectureDecoder Only-
LicenseProprietaryApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessProprietaryOpen source
WeightsNot releasedAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2025-122025-01

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeClaude Opus 4.5Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Input price$5/1M tokens$0.06/1M tokens
Output price$25/1M tokens$0.33/1M tokens
Providers
Microsoft FoundryAnthropicGCP Vertex AIAWS BedrockOpenRouterVercel AI Gateway
Cloudflare Workers AIGoogle AI StudioGCP Vertex AIOpenRouterTogether AIVercel AI Gateway

Capabilities

CapabilityClaude Opus 4.5Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
VisionYesYes
MultimodalYesYes
ReasoningYesNo
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionYesNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkClaude Opus 4.5Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
MMLU PRO88.982.6
Google-Proof Q&A87.079.2

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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.