Model Comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3.5 SonnetWhich is better in 2026?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is 8.0x cheaper per token.

Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3.5 Sonnet — which is better?

GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Claude 3.5 Sonnet (by Anthropic) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet is better at 8 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU). Claude 3.5 Sonnet significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, GPT-3.5 Turbo is roughly 8.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…

  • cost matters — it's about 8.0x cheaper per token

Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 8 of 8 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2024

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

8 benchmarks

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet is better at 8 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU).

Claude 3.5 Sonnet significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jun 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

GPT-3.5 Turbo costs less

For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 6.0x cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 10.0x cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Jun 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerAzure
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude 3.5 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Fri Jun 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-10-22.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is 19 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.3 years ago

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Oct 22, 2024

1.7 years ago

1.6yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

—

Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher DROP score (87.1% vs 70.2%)
Higher GPQA score (67.2% vs 30.8%)
Higher HumanEval score (93.7% vs 68.0%)
Higher MATH score (78.3% vs 43.1%)
Higher MathVista score (67.7% vs 0.0%)
Higher MGSM score (91.6% vs 56.3%)
Higher MMLU score (90.4% vs 69.8%)
Higher MMMU score (68.3% vs 0.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Claude 3.5 Sonnet side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-3.5 Turbo
✓ Preferred
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

Which is better, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Claude 3.5 Sonnet?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and Claude 3.5 Sonnet is made by Anthropic. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does GPT-3.5 Turbo compare to Claude 3.5 Sonnet in benchmarks?

GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. Claude 3.5 Sonnet scores GSM8k: 96.4%, DocVQA: 95.2%, AI2D: 94.7%, HumanEval: 93.7%, BIG-Bench Hard: 93.1%.

Is GPT-3.5 Turbo cheaper than Claude 3.5 Sonnet?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is 6.0x cheaper for input tokens. GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output via azure. Claude 3.5 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-3.5 Turbo and Claude 3.5 Sonnet?

GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between GPT-3.5 Turbo and Claude 3.5 Sonnet?

Key differences include context window (16K vs 200K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $3.00/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-3.5 Turbo and Claude 3.5 Sonnet?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI and Claude 3.5 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic.

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