Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4 Mini
Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.4 Mini are both current production-tier models. GPT-5.4 Mini is meaningfully cheaper at $0.75 / $4.5 per 1M. Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a 1M context window — about 3× the 400k of GPT-5.4 Mini. Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads on coding, reasoning, long-context retrieval.
Specs side by side
| Metric | Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.6 | OpenAI GPT-5.4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $3 | $0.75 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $15 | $4.5 |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 400k tokens |
| Speed tier | balanced | fast |
| Open weights | No | No |
| EU region | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Vision input | Yes | Yes |
| Extended thinking | Yes | Yes |
When to choose each
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 if…
- You need 1M context (3× more than GPT-5.4 Mini)
- Coding is central to your workload
- Reasoning is central to your workload
Choose GPT-5.4 Mini if…
- Cost is a priority ($0.75 / $4.5 per 1M vs $3 / $15 per 1M)
Benchmark delta
Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads on
- Coding
- Reasoning
- Long-context retrieval
- Instruction following
- Tool use
GPT-5.4 Mini leads on
GPT-5.4 Mini has no meaningful benchmark lead in this pair.
FAQ — Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4 Mini
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4 Mini — which is better?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.4 Mini are both current production-tier models. GPT-5.4 Mini is meaningfully cheaper at $0.75 / $4.5 per 1M. Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a 1M context window — about 3× the 400k of GPT-5.4 Mini. Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads on coding, reasoning, long-context retrieval. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.6 pricing compare to GPT-5.4 Mini?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3 / $15 per 1M vs GPT-5.4 Mini at $0.75 / $4.5 per 1M. GPT-5.4 Mini is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 233%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.
Does Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.4 Mini have the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a 1M-token context window — 3× the 400k context of GPT-5.4 Mini. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.
Is there a free tier for Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
Claude Sonnet 4.6: no — Free via Claude.ai web chat; API requires paid credits. GPT-5.4 Mini: no — Near-free at $0.75/$4.50 per 1M; starter credits only.
Which is better for coding — Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.4 Mini?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads on coding benchmarks (Claude Sonnet 4.6: 94/100, GPT-5.4 Mini: 84/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 96, GPT-5.4 Mini scores 86.