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GPT-5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5
Premium vs mid-tier: GPT-5.5 at $5/$30 vs Sonnet 5 at $3/$15. Sonnet 5 is 40% cheaper on input, 50% cheaper on output — similar context windows. Save up to $320/month at scale.
Pricing data verified: Jul 3, 2026
| Specification | GPT-5.5 (OpenAI) | Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price (per 1M tokens) | $5.00 | $3.00 |
| Output Price (per 1M tokens) | $30.00 | $15.00 |
| Context Window | 1.05M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Tier | Premium | Mid |
| Provider | OpenAI | Anthropic |
Calculate Your Exact Savings
Sonnet 5 is dramatically cheaper on both input and output. See exactly how much you save at your usage level.
Other Mid-Tier Models
Which Model for Which Use Case?
Code Generation
GPT-5.5 ($5/$30) is OpenAI's premium coding model with top-tier code generation, debugging, and refactoring. Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) offers strong coding at 40% less input cost and 50% less output cost. For most coding tasks, Sonnet 5 delivers excellent results at a fraction of the cost.
Content Generation
Blog posts, marketing copy, documentation. GPT-5.5 at $30/1M output vs Sonnet 5 at $15/1M output means Sonnet saves 50% on every output token. For high-volume content generation, this compounds to massive monthly savings.
Long-Context Processing
GPT-5.5's 1.05M context is marginally larger than Sonnet 5's 1M context — a 5% difference that's negligible for most workloads. Both handle extremely long documents, large codebases, and extended conversation histories. Context size is not a meaningful differentiator between these two models.
High-Volume Batch Processing
At scale, Sonnet 5's savings compound dramatically. At 10M input + 10M output tokens/month, Sonnet 5 costs $180 vs GPT-5.5's $350 — saving $170/month. For batch workloads with heavy output, Sonnet 5 delivers strong results at nearly half the cost.
Comparing premium and mid-tier models?
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much cheaper is Claude Sonnet 5 than GPT-5.5?
Claude Sonnet 5 costs $3.00/$15.00 per 1M tokens while GPT-5.5 costs $5.00/$30.00 per 1M tokens. Sonnet 5 is 40% cheaper on input and 50% cheaper on output. At 1M input + 1M output tokens/month, Sonnet 5 costs $18 vs GPT-5.5's $35, saving $17/month. At 10M input + 10M output, savings reach $320/month. The output price difference is even larger — 50% cheaper — making Sonnet 5 exceptionally cost-effective for output-heavy workloads.
Which model has a larger context window?
GPT-5.5 has a slightly larger context at 1.05M tokens vs Claude Sonnet 5's 1M tokens — a 5% difference that is negligible for virtually all workloads. Both handle extremely long documents, large codebases, and extended conversation histories. Context window is not a meaningful differentiator between these two models.
Is Claude Sonnet 5 good enough to replace GPT-5.5?
Claude Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 is a strong mid-tier model that handles most tasks well — code generation, content creation, analysis, and chatbot applications. GPT-5.5 at $5/$30 is a premium model with potentially stronger reasoning and OpenAI ecosystem integration. For cost-sensitive workloads where 80-90% of the quality is acceptable, Sonnet 5 offers dramatically better value at 40% less input and 50% less output cost.
When should I choose GPT-5.5 over Claude Sonnet 5?
Choose GPT-5.5 ($5/$30) for mission-critical tasks requiring the highest quality, OpenAI ecosystem integration (Assistants API, function calling), or when output quality directly impacts your product. Choose Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) for cost-sensitive workloads, high-volume batch processing, or when you need 40% cheaper input costs and 50% cheaper output costs with acceptable quality. Both have similar context windows (~1M tokens).
Are both models in the same pricing tier?
No. GPT-5.5 is in the Premium tier ($5/$30) while Claude Sonnet 5 is in the Mid tier ($3/$15). GPT-5.5 is 1.67x more expensive on input and 2x more expensive on output. The tier difference reflects the intended use cases — GPT-5.5 for premium tasks requiring top quality, Sonnet 5 for cost-effective mid-tier workloads. Both have similar context windows (~1M tokens).
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