Claude Opus 5 vs o4-mini
Claude Opus 5 leads the LLM Stats Score 54.6 to 27.5. o4-mini is 5.2x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 54.6 to 27.5, ranking #5 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 5 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, o4-mini is roughly 5.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 5 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 5
- overall performance matters — it scores 54.6 and ranks #5 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose o4-mini
- cost matters — it's about 5.2x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
13 reported for Claude Opus 5 · 14 for o4-mini
Claude Opus 5 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (BrowseComp, Humanity's Last Exam), while o4-mini is better at 0 benchmarks.
Claude Opus 5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 4.5x more expensive than o4-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 5.7x more expensive than o4-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than o4-mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to o4-mini's 200,000 tokens. Claude Opus 5 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while o4-mini is limited to 100,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Opus 5 and o4-mini support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 5
o4-mini
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 Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24, while o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16.
Claude Opus 5 is 15 months newer than o4-mini.
Jul 24, 2026
1 months ago
1.3yr newerApr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o4-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Claude Opus 5's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o4-mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude Opus 5's cutoff date.
—
May 2024
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 5 is available from Anthropic, DeepInfra. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.
Claude Opus 5
o4-mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 5 and o4-mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 5 vs o4-mini.