Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 4 Argon: pricing and benchmarks
Both charge $2.00 per 1M input tokens. Both charge $10.00 per 1M output tokens. On our document Q&A workload both models cost $1,100 a month. Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.4 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Prices verified October 17, 2026.
Which should you choose?
Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.4 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Gemini 4 Argon scores 86.0% on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3) vs 65.6% for Claude Sonnet 5.
Both cost $4.00 per 1M tokens at a 3:1 input-to-output mix.
Pricing and specs
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| API model ID | claude-sonnet-5 | gemini-4-argon |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.20 | $0.10 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Long-context rates | — | — |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Batch discount | 50% off | 50% off |
Benchmarks
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 156.4 | 164.6 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 90.5% | 96.4% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 65.6% | 86.0% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | 33.7% | 76.0% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | — | — |
| DeepSWE· Coding | 53.8% | — |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | 54.5% | 82.4% |
Source: Epoch AI, best recorded result per model (CC BY 4.0). A dash means no published score. See all benchmarks
Monthly cost for real workloads
| Workload | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $700.00 | $700.00 | Same |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $1,100 | $1,100 | Same |
Coding agent 10,000 agent steps a month, ~40,000 input tokens each (70% read from the prompt cache) and ~2,000 output tokens. | $496.00 | $468.00 | Gemini 4 Argon 6% cheaper |
Estimates use standard list prices and ignore cache-write surcharges. Different tokenizers can count the same text differently, so test with your own prompts.
Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 4 Argon cost calculator
- $1,100/mo$0.02 / request
- Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle$1,100/mo$0.02 / request
Standard-tier list prices. Long-context rates apply automatically where the provider publishes a threshold. Excludes cache-write surcharges, taxes, batch and volume discounts.
Claude Sonnet 5 pricing notes
Anthropic’s best combination of speed and intelligence.
- The $2 / $10 launch price is now the standard price; the planned rise to $3 / $15 will not happen.
- Cache writes cost $2.50 (5-minute cache) or $4 (1-hour cache) per 1M tokens.
- Uses Anthropic’s newer tokenizer, which produces roughly 30% more tokens for the same text.
Gemini 4 Argon pricing notes
Google’s flagship reasoning model for complex coding, agents, math and science.
- Introductory price through November 30, 2026. From December 1, 2026: $4 input, $0.20 cached, $20 output per 1M tokens.
- Not available on the Gemini API free tier.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Max output is 65,536 tokens by default and up to 1,048,576 with long decode.
- Implicit caching only; explicit context caching is not supported.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper than Gemini 4 Argon?
- Both charge $2.00 per 1M input tokens. Both charge $10.00 per 1M output tokens. On our document Q&A workload both models cost $1,100 a month.
- Which is more capable, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.4 for Claude Sonnet 5.
- How much does Claude Sonnet 5 cost per 1M tokens?
- Claude Sonnet 5 costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.20 per 1M cached input tokens on Anthropic’s standard tier.
- How much does Gemini 4 Argon cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.10 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 4 Argon has the larger context window: 1.05M tokens versus 1M for Claude Sonnet 5.