Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-3.5 Turbo
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 51.5 to -9.4. GPT-3.5 Turbo is 5.3x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · OpenAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 51.5 to -9.4, ranking #12 overall.
On price, GPT-3.5 Turbo is roughly 5.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 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 Sonnet 5.5
- overall performance matters — it scores 51.5 and ranks #12 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo
- cost matters — it's about 5.3x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 8 for GPT-3.5 Turbo
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-3.5 Turbodon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 4.0x more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 5.5 is more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude Sonnet 5.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
GPT-3.5 Turbo
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 Sonnet 5.5 was released on 2026-09-28, while GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 43 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Sep 28, 2026
-2 days ago
3.5yr newerMar 21, 2023
3.5 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Claude Sonnet 5.5 has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-06-01, while GPT-3.5 Turbo has a cutoff of 2021-09-30.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 has more recent training data (up to 2026-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo (2021-09-30).
Jun 2026
4.8 yr newerSep 2021
Provider Availability
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is available from Anthropic. GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-3.5 Turbo side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-3.5 Turbo.