Claude Opus 4.5 vs GPT-4 Vision Preview
Claude Opus 4.5 (2025) and GPT-4 Vision Preview (2023) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and OpenAI. Claude Opus 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while GPT-4 Vision Preview ships a 128k-token context window. On Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, Claude Opus 4.5 leads by 24.7 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Claude Opus 4.5 is ~100% cheaper at $5/1M; pay for GPT-4 Vision Preview only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Opus 4.5 | GPT-4 Vision Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | multimodal apps |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 200k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $25/1M tokens | $40/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 6 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding leader | 1 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Opus 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, ahead by 24.7 points.
- Claude Opus 4.5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Claude Opus 4.5 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $25/1M tokens.
- Claude Opus 4.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Claude Opus 4.5 uniquely exposes Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags GPT-4 Vision Preview for Coding, Agents, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude Opus 4.5
$10,250
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
GPT-4 Vision Preview
$18,000
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Azure OpenAI
Estimated monthly gap: $7,750. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-4 Vision Preview; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- GPT-4 Vision Preview is $15/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for GPT-4 Vision Preview and Claude Opus 4.5; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Claude Opus 4.5 is $15/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Claude Opus 4.5 adds Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-11-01 | 2023-11-06 |
| Context window | 200k | 128k |
| Parameters | — | 1.76T (8x222B MoE)* |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | 2023-04 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Opus 4.5 | GPT-4 Vision Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $5/1M tokens | $10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $25/1M tokens | $40/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Opus 4.5 | GPT-4 Vision Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.5 | GPT-4 Vision Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding | 80.7 | 56.0 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding has Claude Opus 4.5 at 80.7 and GPT-4 Vision Preview at 56, with Claude Opus 4.5 ahead by 24.7 points. The largest visible gap is 24.7 points on Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: Claude Opus 4.5, function calling: Claude Opus 4.5, tool use: Claude Opus 4.5, and structured outputs: Claude Opus 4.5. Both models share vision, multimodal input, and code execution, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Claude Opus 4.5 lists $5/1M input and $25/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while GPT-4 Vision Preview lists $10/1M input and $40/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Claude Opus 4.5 lower by about $8 per million blended tokens. Availability is 6 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude Opus 4.5 when coding workflow support, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose GPT-4 Vision Preview when coding workflow support are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Claude Opus 4.5 or GPT-4 Vision Preview?
Claude Opus 4.5 supports 200k tokens, while GPT-4 Vision Preview supports 128k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.5 or GPT-4 Vision Preview?
Claude Opus 4.5 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5/1M input and $25/1M output tokens. GPT-4 Vision Preview costs $10/1M input and $40/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude Opus 4.5 or GPT-4 Vision Preview open source?
Claude Opus 4.5 is listed under Proprietary. GPT-4 Vision Preview is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Claude Opus 4.5 or GPT-4 Vision Preview?
Both Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-4 Vision Preview expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for multimodal input, Claude Opus 4.5 or GPT-4 Vision Preview?
Both Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-4 Vision Preview expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-4 Vision Preview?
Claude Opus 4.5 is available on Microsoft Foundry, Anthropic, GCP Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, and OpenRouter. GPT-4 Vision Preview is available on Azure OpenAI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.