High-volume, cost-sensitive work
Either one
Both cost $4.00 per million tokens on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon: price, context and capabilities
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for the hardest reasoning tasks and reasoning over long documents. Choose Gemini 4 Argon for the latest release.
In short
- Both cost the same at the headline price ($4.00 / 1M tokens).
- Gemini 4 Argon reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
- Gemini 4 Argon is the newer model (October 2026, against September 2026).
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Hardest reasoning tasks
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 56 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, against 52.6 for Gemini 4 Argon.
Reasoning over long documents
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 82.7% on Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR), against 79.7% for Gemini 4 Argon.
Latest release
Choose Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon is the newer release (October 2026, against September 2026 for Claude Sonnet 5.5).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens | $4.50 | $4.50 | = |
| Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens | $90.00 | $90.00 | = |
| Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens | $2,000 | $2,000 | = |
Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.
Specifications side by side
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Generally available | Generally available |
| Headline price | $4.00 / 1M tokens | $4.00 / 1M tokens |
| Input | $2.00 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $10.00 / 1M tokens | $10.00 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input | $0.10 / 1M tokens | $0.10 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Max output | 128k | 66k |
| Released | September 2026 | October 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | June 2026 | No data |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Capabilities | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API |
| API model id | claude-sonnet-5-5 | gemini-4-argon |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 56 | 52.6 |
| SciCode | 61% | 61.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 55% | 57.1% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 82.7% | 79.7% |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for the hardest reasoning tasks and reasoning over long documents. Choose Gemini 4 Argon for the latest release.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Both cost the same at the headline price ($4.00 / 1M tokens).
Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is made by Anthropic and Gemini 4 Argon by Google. Both cost the same at the headline price ($4.00 / 1M tokens). Gemini 4 Argon reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M. Gemini 4 Argon is the newer model (October 2026, against September 2026).
How much do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $90.00 and Gemini 4 Argon costs $90.00, at standard rates.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon was released on October 2026 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 on September 2026.