Last refreshed 2026-05-11. Next refresh: weekly.
Why use Claude Sonnet 4.6 on GCP Vertex AI?
GCP Vertex AI offers Claude Sonnet 4.6 with pay-as-you-go pricing at $3.00/1M input tokens. Vertex AI is Google Cloud's managed AI platform, offering access to Gemini models and hundreds of partner models alongside tools for fine-tuning, grounding, vector search, and end-to-end MLOps pipelines.
Compare Claude Sonnet 4.6 across 5 providers to find the best fit for your use caseSetup recipe
Python + curlpip install google-cloud-aiplatformexport GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=...import os
import vertexai
from vertexai.generative_models import GenerativeModel
vertexai.init(project=os.environ["GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT"], location="us-central1")claude-sonnet-4-6Request example
import os
import vertexai
from vertexai.generative_models import GenerativeModel
# Reads GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT from env; authenticates via Application Default Credentials
vertexai.init(project=os.environ["GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT"], location="us-central1")
model = GenerativeModel("claude-sonnet-4-6")
response = model.generate_content("Hello")
print(response.text)Gotchas
- For Google-published models use the model name directly, e.g. "gemini-2.0-flash-001". For third-party publishers (Anthropic, Meta, etc.) use the full publisher path, e.g. "publishers/anthropic/models/claude-3-5-sonnet-v2@20241022".
- The examples expect GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT; rename it only if your application config maps the new variable.
Compare Claude Sonnet 4.6 Across Providers
| Provider | Input (per 1M) | Output (per 1M) |
|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| AWS Bedrock | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| GCP Vertex AI | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Microsoft Foundry | $3.00 | $15.00 |
Pricing
| Type | Price (per 1M) |
|---|---|
| Input tokens | $3.00 |
| Output tokens | $15.00 |
Capabilities
About Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is Anthropic's best combination of speed and intelligence. Proprietary decoder-only model with 1M-token context, 64K max output, multimodal vision, extended thinking, and function calling. Available via Anthropic API, AWS Bedrock, GCP Vertex AI, and OpenRouter at $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens.
FAQ
What does Claude Sonnet 4.6 cost on GCP Vertex AI?
On GCP Vertex AI, Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3 per 1M input tokens and $15 per 1M output tokens.
What is the context window for Claude Sonnet 4.6 on GCP Vertex AI?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports a 1,000,000 token context window on GCP Vertex AI.
How does GCP Vertex AI compare to other Claude Sonnet 4.6 providers?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is available from 5 providers. The cheapest input pricing is $3/1M tokens from OpenRouter.
Who created Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 was created by Anthropic as part of the Claude 4.6 model family.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 open source?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not open source; the seed data lists it as proprietary.