Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3 OpusWhich is better in 2026?
Claude 3 Opus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is 40.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3 Opus — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Claude 3 Opus (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 Opus is better at 6 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MGSM, MMLU). Claude 3 Opus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, GPT-3.5 Turbo is roughly 40.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude 3 Opus 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 40.0x cheaper per token
Choose Claude 3 Opus if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2024
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Claude 3 Opus is better at 6 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MGSM, MMLU).
Claude 3 Opus significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 30.0x cheaper than Claude 3 Opus ($15.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 50.0x cheaper than Claude 3 Opus ($75.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Opus 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 3 Opus accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Claude 3 Opus can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Claude 3 Opus supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Claude 3 Opus can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Claude 3 Opus
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
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Claude 3 Opus was released on 2024-02-29.
Claude 3 Opus is 12 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.2 years ago
Feb 29, 2024
2.3 years ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Claude 3 Opus'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 Opus's cutoff date.
Sep 2021
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Provider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Claude 3 Opus is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Claude 3 Opus
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude 3 Opus
View detailsAnthropic
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Claude 3 Opus.