Claude vs ChatGPT — API Pricing Comparison

Compare all Claude and ChatGPT models side by side. Interactive calculator shows exact costs for your usage pattern.

Pricing data verified: May 14, 2026

Cheapest Model
ChatGPT
GPT-4o mini at $0.15/M input
Best Context Window
Tie
Both have 1M token models
Best Value Mid-Tier
ChatGPT
GPT-5 at $1.25/M vs Sonnet 4 at $3/M

All Models Compared

Every Claude and ChatGPT model, ranked by input price.

Model Provider Tier Input (per 1M) Output (per 1M) Context
GPT-4o mini OpenAI Budget $0.15 $0.60 128K
GPT-5 mini OpenAI Budget $0.25 $2.00 272K
Claude Haiku 4.5 Anthropic Budget $1.00 $5.00 200K
GPT-5 OpenAI Premium $1.25 $10.00 272K
GPT-4o OpenAI Mid $2.50 $10.00 128K
Claude Sonnet 4 Anthropic Mid $3.00 $15.00 200K
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic Mid $3.00 $15.00 1M
Claude Opus 4.7 Anthropic Premium $5.00 $25.00 1M
GPT-5.5 OpenAI Premium $5.00 $30.00 1M
Claude 4 Opus Anthropic Premium $15.00 $75.00 200K

Calculate Your Exact Costs

Pick your Claude and ChatGPT models, enter your usage, see the comparison.

vs
OpenAI
GPT-5
$0.00
per month
Input cost $0.00
Output cost $0.00
Per request $0.00
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4
$0.00
per month
Input cost $0.00
Output cost $0.00
Per request $0.00
Enter your usage above to see savings.

Which Should You Choose?

Chatbot / Customer Support

High volume, short responses. Cost per message matters most. Budget models handle most customer queries well.

Pick ChatGPT: GPT-4o mini at $0.15/M is 85% cheaper than Claude Haiku for high-volume chatbots.

Code Generation

Complex reasoning, longer outputs. Quality and accuracy matter. Both providers excel here.

Pick ChatGPT: GPT-5 at $1.25/$10 offers competitive quality at 58% less input cost than Claude Sonnet 4.

Long Document Analysis

Processing large documents, legal contracts, or codebases. Context window is critical.

Pick Claude: Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 1M context at $3/$15 — same price as Sonnet 4 but 5x the context.

Complex Reasoning / Research

Multi-step reasoning, nuanced analysis, creative tasks. Quality is the priority.

Pick Claude: Claude Opus 4.7 at $5/$25 with 1M context. Best reasoning quality with massive context window.

High-Volume Data Processing

Classification, extraction, summarization at scale. Budget is tight, volume is high.

Pick ChatGPT: GPT-4o mini at $0.15/$0.60 is the cheapest option. At 1M requests/month: $45 vs $1,500 for Claude Haiku.

Multi-Model Pipeline

Route tasks to the best model for each job. Simple tasks to budget, complex to premium.

Use both: GPT-4o mini for simple tasks + Claude Sonnet 4.6 for long-context analysis. Average cost under $2/M tokens.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Claude or ChatGPT cheaper for API usage?

ChatGPT (OpenAI) is generally cheaper across comparable tiers. GPT-4o mini ($0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens) is cheaper than Claude Haiku 4.5 ($1/$5). GPT-5 ($1.25/$10) is cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4 ($3/$15) on both input (58% less) and output (33% less). However, Claude models offer larger context windows — Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.7 both support 1M tokens vs GPT-5's 272K.

What is the cheapest Claude model vs the cheapest ChatGPT model?

The cheapest Claude model is Claude Haiku 4.5 at $1/$5 per 1M tokens (input/output). The cheapest ChatGPT model is GPT-4o mini at $0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens. GPT-4o mini is 85% cheaper on input and 88% cheaper on output. For budget-conscious developers processing high volumes, GPT-4o mini offers significantly better value.

Which has a bigger context window: Claude or ChatGPT?

Claude wins on context windows. Claude Opus 4.7 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 both support 1M tokens. ChatGPT's largest context window is GPT-5 at 272K tokens, and GPT-5.5 at 1M tokens. For tasks requiring very long context (document analysis, large codebases), Claude's mid-tier models (Sonnet 4.6 at 1M) are more cost-effective than GPT-5.5 Pro ($30/$180) for equivalent context capacity.

Claude Sonnet 4 vs GPT-5: which should I choose?

GPT-5 is cheaper ($1.25/$10 vs $3/$15) and has a larger context window (272K vs 200K). Claude Sonnet 4 excels at instruction following and detailed analysis. For cost-sensitive workloads, GPT-5 is the better value. For tasks requiring careful reasoning or specific Claude capabilities, the 40% price premium may be justified.

Can I use both Claude and ChatGPT in the same application?

Yes, many developers use a multi-model strategy: route simple tasks to cheap models (GPT-4o mini or Claude Haiku), complex reasoning to premium models (GPT-5 or Claude Sonnet 4), and long-context tasks to models with large windows (Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Gemini Flash). This approach typically reduces costs by 40-60% compared to using a single premium model for everything.

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