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GPT-5.4 Pro vs Sonnet 5 — Premium vs Mid-Tier

Claude Sonnet 5 is 90% cheaper on input ($3 vs $30) with 2.5x larger context. Compare OpenAI's most expensive model with Anthropic's best value.

Pricing data verified: Jul 3, 2026

Cheaper by Far

Sonnet 5

90% cheaper input ($3 vs $30)

Output Cost

Sonnet 5

91.7% cheaper ($15 vs $180)

Context Window

Sonnet 5

1M vs 400K (2.5x larger)

Head-to-Head Comparison

Two very different models at very different price points.

Model	Provider	Tier	Input (per 1M)	Output (per 1M)	Context
Claude Sonnet 5	Anthropic	Mid	$3.00	$15.00	1M
GPT-5.4 Pro	OpenAI	Premium	$30.00	$180.00	400K

Calculate Your Exact Costs

See the massive cost difference between these two models for your workload.

OpenAI Model

Anthropic Model

Input Tokens per Request

Output Tokens per Request

Requests per Day

Days per Month

OpenAI

GPT-5.4 Pro

$0.00

per month

Input cost$0.00

Output cost$0.00

Per request$0.00

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 5

$0.00

per month

Input cost$0.00

Output cost$0.00

Per request$0.00

Which Should You Choose?

Most Production Workloads

API integrations, chatbots, content generation, general AI tasks.

Pick Sonnet 5: At $3/$15 it handles most tasks at 90% lower cost than GPT-5.4 Pro. Same 1M context as premium models.

Maximum Capability Tasks

Complex research, advanced math, multi-step reasoning.

Pick GPT-5.4 Pro: Only for tasks requiring absolute maximum capability. The 10x price premium is only justified for high-stakes workloads.

Large Document Processing

Processing long documents, codebases, or datasets.

Pick Sonnet 5: 1M context window (2.5x larger than GPT-5.4 Pro's 400K) at 90% lower cost. Better for large-context tasks.

High-Volume APIs

Processing millions of tokens per day in production.

Pick Sonnet 5: At 90% lower cost, Sonnet 5 is the only sensible choice for high-volume production. GPT-5.4 Pro would cost $2,100/day vs ~$54/day.

Startup Budgets

Early-stage teams watching every dollar.

Pick Sonnet 5: 90% savings means you can run 10x more queries for the same budget. Start with Sonnet 5 and upgrade only when needed.

Enterprise Scale

Production workloads with cost sensitivity.

Pick Sonnet 5: At $3 input, Sonnet 5 is the clear enterprise choice. GPT-5.4 Pro's $30 input makes it prohibitive for production-scale deployments.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is GPT-5.4 Pro or Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper?

Claude Sonnet 5 is dramatically cheaper. It costs $3.00/$15.00 per 1M tokens while GPT-5.4 Pro costs $30.00/$180.00. That's 90% cheaper on input and 91.7% cheaper on output. At 1M tokens/month, Sonnet 5 costs ~$54 vs GPT-5.4 Pro's $2,100.

What is GPT-5.4 Pro used for?

GPT-5.4 Pro at $30/$180 is OpenAI's most capable model, designed for the most complex reasoning tasks — advanced mathematics, multi-step research, complex code generation. It's 10x more expensive than Sonnet 5 on input.

When should I use GPT-5.4 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 5?

GPT-5.4 Pro ($30/$180) is for tasks requiring absolute maximum capability where cost is secondary. Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) handles most premium tasks at 90% lower cost with a larger 1M context window. Most users should start with Sonnet 5.

Does Claude Sonnet 5 have a larger context window?

Yes. Claude Sonnet 5 has a 1M token context window, while GPT-5.4 Pro has 400K. That's 2.5x larger. For tasks requiring processing large documents, codebases, or datasets, Sonnet 5 offers both lower cost and larger context.

Can I use both models together?

Yes! A cost-effective pattern: use Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) for 95% of tasks and route only the most complex, high-stakes tasks to GPT-5.4 Pro ($30/$180). This gives you maximum capability where needed while keeping costs 90%+ lower.