Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-4o (08-06)
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) and GPT-4o (08-06) (2024) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and OpenAI. Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1M-token context window, while GPT-4o (08-06) ships a 128K-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads by 12.6 pts. On pricing, GPT-4o (08-06) costs $1.25/1M input tokens versus $3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
GPT-4o (08-06) is ~140% cheaper at $1.25/1M; pay for Claude Sonnet 4.6 only for coding workflow support.
Specs
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2024-08-06 |
| Context window | 1M | 128K |
| Parameters | — | 1.76T (8x222B MoE)* |
| Architecture | decoder only | mixture of experts |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-4o (08-06) | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3/1M tokens | $1.25/1M tokens |
| Output price | $15/1M tokens | $5/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-4o (08-06) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-4o (08-06) |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 87.3 | 74.7 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has Claude Sonnet 4.6 at 87.3 and GPT-4o (08-06) at 74.7, with Claude Sonnet 4.6 ahead by 12.6 points. The largest visible gap is 12.6 points on MMLU PRO, 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 Sonnet 4.6, function calling: Claude Sonnet 4.6, and tool use: Claude Sonnet 4.6. Both models share vision, multimodal input, structured outputs, 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 Sonnet 4.6 lists $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens, while GPT-4o (08-06) lists $1.25/1M input and $5/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts GPT-4o (08-06) lower by about $4.22 per million blended tokens. Availability is 4 providers versus 4, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when coding workflow support and larger context windows are central to the workload. Choose GPT-4o (08-06) when coding workflow support and lower input-token cost 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 Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o (08-06)?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1M tokens, while GPT-4o (08-06) 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 Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o (08-06)?
GPT-4o (08-06) is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens. GPT-4o (08-06) costs $1.25/1M input and $5/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o (08-06) open source?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is listed under Proprietary. GPT-4o (08-06) 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 Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o (08-06)?
Both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-4o (08-06) expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for multimodal input, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o (08-06)?
Both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-4o (08-06) 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 Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-4o (08-06)?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is available on OpenRouter, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI. GPT-4o (08-06) is available on OpenAI API, Salesforce Einstein Generative AI, OpenRouter, and OpenAI Batch API. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.