o4-mini vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 — LLM API Cost Comparison
Compare o4-mini (OpenAI) vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) on cost per million tokens, context window, and monthly spend.
Prices verified 2026-05-20 · Pricing may change — use the calculator for current estimates
- Input
- $1.1/1M tokens
- Output
- $4.4/1M tokens
- Context
- 200K tokens
- Released
- 2025-04
Best-value reasoning model; chain-of-thought built in
- Input
- $3/1M tokens
- Output
- $15/1M tokens
- Context
- 1M tokens
- Released
- 2026-04
Best speed/intelligence balance; extended thinking supported
Monthly Cost by Usage Tier (70% input / 30% output ratio)
| Usage | o4-mini | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Cheaper by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (1M tokens) | $2.09 | $6.60 | o4-mini (68%) |
| Moderate (10M tokens) | $20.90 | $66.00 | o4-mini (68%) |
| Heavy (100M tokens) | $209 | $660 | o4-mini (68%) |
| Very Heavy (1B tokens) | $2,090 | $6,600 | o4-mini (68%) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper — o4-mini or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
For input tokens, o4-mini is cheaper at $1.1/1M tokens — 2.7× less than $3/1M. For output tokens, o4-mini wins at $4.4/1M vs $15/1M. At heavy workloads (100M tokens/month), the cost difference can be significant.
What is the context window difference between o4-mini and Claude Sonnet 4.6?
o4-mini supports 200,000 tokens per request; Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1,000,000 tokens. Claude Sonnet 4.6 wins on context length, making it better for long documents, large codebases, or extended conversations without chunking.
When should I choose o4-mini over Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Choose o4-mini (OpenAI) if you prefer OpenAI's ecosystem, tooling, or reliability track record. Best-value reasoning model; chain-of-thought built in. Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) if Best speed/intelligence balance; extended thinking supported. the price/performance fits your workload better. Use this calculator to find the break-even point for your exact token volume.
How much does 1 billion tokens cost on o4-mini vs Claude Sonnet 4.6?
At 700M input + 300M output tokens (1B total): o4-mini costs $2090; Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $6600. The difference is $4510/billion tokens at this 70/30 input/output ratio.