GPT-5 vs Claude vs Gemini

The definitive three-way comparison of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google API pricing. Interactive calculator shows exact costs for your usage pattern.

Pricing data verified: May 14, 2026

Cheapest Model
Gemini
Flash Lite at $0.075/M input
Best Context Window
Tie
Gemini & Claude both have 1M token models
Best Value Mid-Tier
Tie
GPT-5 & Gemini 2.5 Pro at $1.25/M

All Models Compared

Every GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini model, ranked by input price.

Model Provider Tier Input (per 1M) Output (per 1M) Context
Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite Google Budget $0.075 $0.30 1M
Gemini 2.0 Flash Google Budget $0.10 $0.40 1M
GPT-5 mini OpenAI Budget $0.25 $2.00 272K
Claude Haiku 4.5 Anthropic Budget $1.00 $5.00 200K
GPT-5 OpenAI Mid $1.25 $10.00 272K
Gemini 2.5 Pro Google Mid $1.25 $10.00 1M
Gemini 3.1 Pro Google Mid $2.00 $12.00 1M
Claude Sonnet 4 Anthropic Mid $3.00 $15.00 200K
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic Mid $3.00 $15.00 1M
GPT-5.5 OpenAI Premium $5.00 $30.00 1M
Claude Opus 4.7 Anthropic Premium $5.00 $25.00 1M

Calculate Your Exact Costs

Pick models from all three providers, enter your usage, see the comparison.

OpenAI
GPT-5
$0.00
per month
Input cost $0.00
Output cost $0.00
Per request $0.00
Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.6
$0.00
per month
Input cost $0.00
Output cost $0.00
Per request $0.00
Google
Gemini 2.5 Pro
$0.00
per month
Input cost $0.00
Output cost $0.00
Per request $0.00
Enter your usage above to see savings.

Which Should You Choose?

Chatbot / Customer Support

High volume, short responses. Cost per message matters most. Budget models handle most customer queries well.

Pick Gemini: Flash Lite at $0.075/M is 95% cheaper than Claude Haiku and 70% cheaper than GPT-5 mini for high-volume chatbots.

Code Generation

Complex reasoning, longer outputs. Quality and accuracy matter. All three providers excel here.

Pick OpenAI: GPT-5 at $1.25/$10 offers competitive quality. Gemini 2.5 Pro matches the price with 4x the context window.

Long Document Analysis

Processing large documents, legal contracts, or codebases. Context window is critical.

Pick Gemini: Gemini 2.5 Pro has 1M context at $1.25/$10 — same price as GPT-5 but 4x the context. Best value for long-context tasks.

Complex Reasoning / Research

Multi-step reasoning, nuanced analysis, creative tasks. Quality is the priority.

Pick Claude: Claude Opus 4.7 at $5/$25 with 1M context. Best reasoning quality with massive context window for research tasks.

High-Volume Data Processing

Classification, extraction, summarization at scale. Budget is tight, volume is high.

Pick Gemini: Flash Lite at $0.075/$0.30 is the cheapest option across all three providers. At 1M requests/month: ~$22 vs $375 for GPT-5 mini.

Multi-Model Pipeline

Route tasks to the best model for each job. Simple tasks to budget, complex to premium.

Use all three: Gemini Flash Lite for simple tasks + GPT-5 for code + Claude Sonnet 4.6 for long-context. Average cost under $1/M tokens.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheapest: GPT-5, Claude, or Gemini?

Google Gemini is the cheapest overall. Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite at $0.075/$0.30 per 1M tokens is the cheapest model from any of the three providers. For budget models, Gemini Flash Lite is 95% cheaper than Claude Haiku 4.5 ($1/$5) and 70% cheaper than GPT-5 mini ($0.25/$2). At the mid-tier, GPT-5 ($1.25/$10) is cheaper than both Gemini 2.5 Pro ($1.25/$10, tied) and Claude Sonnet 4 ($3/$15).

What is the cheapest model from each provider?

OpenAI: GPT-4o mini at $0.15/$0.60 per 1M tokens (or GPT-oss 20B at $0.08/$0.35). Anthropic: Claude Haiku 4.5 at $1/$5 per 1M tokens. Google: Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite at $0.075/$0.30 per 1M tokens. Google wins on budget pricing with the cheapest model overall.

Which has the biggest context window: GPT-5, Claude, or Gemini?

Gemini and Claude both offer 1M token context windows at mid-tier prices. Gemini 2.5 Pro and Gemini 3.1 Pro both have 1M context. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Claude Opus 4.7 also have 1M context. GPT-5 has 272K context, while GPT-5.5 has 1M. For long-context tasks on a budget, Gemini 2.0 Flash offers 1M context at just $0.10/$0.40 per 1M tokens.

GPT-5 vs Claude Sonnet 4 vs Gemini 2.5 Pro: which should I choose?

GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 Pro are tied at $1.25/$10 per 1M tokens. Claude Sonnet 4 costs more at $3/$15. GPT-5 has 272K context, Gemini 2.5 Pro has 1M context, and Claude Sonnet 4 has 200K. If you need large context on a budget, Gemini 2.5 Pro is the best value. If you prefer OpenAI's ecosystem, GPT-5 offers similar pricing. Claude Sonnet 4 costs 140% more on input but may offer better instruction-following for specific tasks.

Can I mix GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini in the same application?

Yes, a multi-model strategy is the most cost-effective approach. Route simple tasks to budget models (Gemini Flash Lite at $0.075/M or GPT-4o mini at $0.15/M), complex reasoning to premium models (GPT-5 or Claude Sonnet 4), and long-context tasks to models with 1M windows (Gemini 2.5 Pro or Claude Sonnet 4.6). This typically reduces costs by 50-70% compared to using a single premium model for everything.

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