Claude 3 Sonnet vs GPT-4o
GPT-4o significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-4o is 1.4x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-4o is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro). GPT-4o significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, GPT-4o is roughly 1.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude 3 Sonnet also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3 Sonnet
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose GPT-4o
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.4x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GPT-4o is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
GPT-4o significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than GPT-4o ($2.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than GPT-4o ($10.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Sonnet is more expensive than GPT-4o.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude 3 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to GPT-4o's 128,000 tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while GPT-4o is limited to 16,384 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude 3 Sonnet and GPT-4o support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3 Sonnet
GPT-4o
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while GPT-4o was released on 2024-08-06.
GPT-4o is 5 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.
Feb 29, 2024
2.5 years ago
Aug 6, 2024
2.1 years ago
5mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. GPT-4o is available from Azure, OpenAI.
Claude 3 Sonnet
GPT-4o
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Sonnet and GPT-4o side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs GPT-4o.