Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol: pricing and benchmarks
Claude Sonnet 5 is 50% cheaper on input tokens ($2.00 vs $4.00 per 1M). Claude Sonnet 5 is 50% cheaper on output tokens ($10.00 vs $20.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Claude Sonnet 5 costs $1,100 a month versus $2,200 for GPT-5.6 Sol, 50% less. GPT-5.6 Sol scores 161.8 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.2 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Prices verified September 14, 2026.
Which should you choose?
GPT-5.6 Sol scores 161.8 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.2 for Claude Sonnet 5.
GPT-5.6 Sol scores 72.7% on DeepSWE vs 53.8% for Claude Sonnet 5.
GPT-5.6 Sol scores 89.1% on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3) vs 65.6% for Claude Sonnet 5.
Claude Sonnet 5 costs $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $8.00 for GPT-5.6 Sol, 50% less.
A trade-off: GPT-5.6 Sol is 5.6 ECI points more capable but costs 2.0x as much as Claude Sonnet 5.
Pricing and specs
| Claude Sonnet 5 | GPT-5.6 Sol | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| API model ID | claude-sonnet-5 | gpt-5.6-sol |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2.00 | $4.00 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.20 | $0.40 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10.00 | $20.00 |
| Long-context rates | — | $8.00 in / $30.00 out on long-context requests |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Batch discount | 50% off | 50% off |
Benchmarks
| Claude Sonnet 5 | GPT-5.6 Sol | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 156.2 | 161.8 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 87.4% | 91.3% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 65.6% | 89.1% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | 33.7% | 69.7% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | — | 92.5% |
| DeepSWE· Coding | 53.8% | 72.7% |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | 32.5% | 40.0% |
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 | GPT-5.6 Sol | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $700.00 | $1,400 | Claude Sonnet 5 50% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $1,100 | $2,200 | Claude Sonnet 5 50% cheaper |
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 | $992.00 | Claude Sonnet 5 50% 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 GPT-5.6 Sol cost calculator
- $1,100/mo$0.02 / request
- GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI$2,200/mo$0.04 / 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.
GPT-5.6 Sol pricing notes
OpenAI’s flagship GPT-5.6 model for complex professional work.
- Promotional pricing, available at least through November 21, 2026.
- Cache writes are billed at $5 per 1M tokens.
- Regional (data residency) endpoints add a 10% uplift.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper than GPT-5.6 Sol?
- Claude Sonnet 5 is 50% cheaper on input tokens ($2.00 vs $4.00 per 1M). Claude Sonnet 5 is 50% cheaper on output tokens ($10.00 vs $20.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Claude Sonnet 5 costs $1,100 a month versus $2,200 for GPT-5.6 Sol, 50% less.
- Which is more capable, Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol?
- GPT-5.6 Sol scores 161.8 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 156.2 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 GPT-5.6 Sol cost per 1M tokens?
- GPT-5.6 Sol costs $4.00 per 1M input tokens and $20.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.40 per 1M cached input tokens on OpenAI’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol?
- GPT-5.6 Sol has the larger context window: 1.05M tokens versus 1M for Claude Sonnet 5.