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 vs Gemini 4 Argon: price, context and capabilities
Choose Claude Sonnet 5 for reasoning over long documents. Choose Gemini 4 Argon for reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), the hardest reasoning tasks and 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 June 2026).
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents)
Choose Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon charges $0.10 per million cached input tokens, against $0.20 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Hardest reasoning tasks
Choose Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon scores 52.6 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, against 38.2 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Reasoning over long documents
Choose Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 5 scores 82% 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 June 2026 for Claude Sonnet 5).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | Claude Sonnet 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 | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Legacy | 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 | $0.20 / 1M tokens | $0.10 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Max output | 128k | 66k |
| Released | June 2026 | October 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | 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 | gemini-4-argon |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 38.2 | 52.6 |
| SciCode | 54.3% | 61.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 41.3% | 57.1% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 82% | 79.7% |
| GPQA Diamond | 91.1% | No data |
| MMMU-Pro (visual reasoning) | 77.3% | No data |
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 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Choose Claude Sonnet 5 for reasoning over long documents. Choose Gemini 4 Argon for reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), the hardest reasoning tasks and the latest release.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 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 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 4 Argon?
Claude Sonnet 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 June 2026).
How much do Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 4 Argon cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, Claude Sonnet 5 costs $90.00 and Gemini 4 Argon costs $90.00, at standard rates.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon was released on October 2026 and Claude Sonnet 5 on June 2026.