Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra
Claude Sonnet 5 and GPT-5.6 Terra are both current production-tier models. Claude Sonnet 5 leads on long-context retrieval.
Specs side by side
| Metric | Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5 | OpenAI GPT-5.6 Terra |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $3 | $2.5 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $15 | $15 |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1.1M tokens |
| Speed tier | balanced | balanced |
| 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 5 if…
- Long-context retrieval is central to your workload
Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…
- GPT-5.6 Terra is in the same tier as Claude Sonnet 5 — pick by provider preference or API ecosystem
Benchmark delta
Claude Sonnet 5 leads on
- Long-context retrieval
GPT-5.6 Terra leads on
GPT-5.6 Terra has no meaningful benchmark lead in this pair.
FAQ — Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra
Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra — which is better?
Claude Sonnet 5 and GPT-5.6 Terra are both current production-tier models. Claude Sonnet 5 leads on 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 5 pricing compare to GPT-5.6 Terra?
Claude Sonnet 5 costs $3 / $15 per 1M vs GPT-5.6 Terra at $2.5 / $15 per 1M. GPT-5.6 Terra is cheaper on input tokens by roughly 0%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.
Does Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Terra have the bigger context window?
GPT-5.6 Terra has a 1.1M-token context window — 1× the 1M context of Claude Sonnet 5. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.
Is there a free tier for Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Terra?
Claude Sonnet 5: no — Default model on Claude.ai Free/Pro web chat; API requires paid credits. GPT-5.6 Terra: no — Free $5 credit for new accounts; paid thereafter.
Which is better for coding — Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Terra?
Claude Sonnet 5 leads on coding benchmarks (Claude Sonnet 5: 95/100, GPT-5.6 Terra: 93/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — Claude Sonnet 5 scores 96, GPT-5.6 Terra scores 93.