Gemini 4 Argon vs Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
Gemini 4 Argon comes out ahead, 52 to 48 and 46 on our weighted score, though Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 is 16% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 4 Argon
52/100- ECI166.1
- Price$2.00 / $10.00
- Context1.05M
- Google
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05
48/100- ECI—
- Price$1.22 / $9.75
- Context1.05M
AnthropicClaude Sonnet 5.5
46/100- ECI166.7
- Price$2.00 / $10.00
- Context1M
Gemini 4 Argon is our pick
Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 (48) and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (46). It leads on inputs & features. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 $3.35 · Gemini 4 Argon $4.00 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 4 Argon and Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05Gemini 4 Argon 1,048,576 · Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 1,048,576 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio · Claude Sonnet 5.5: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 4 Argon | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 | Claude Sonnet 5.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 20 | 24 | 20 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 100 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 48/100 | 46/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05Google | Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 166.1 | — | 166.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #7 of 165 | — | #5 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 96.4% (best) | — | 95.6% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 86.0% | — | 88.8% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 100% | — | 100% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 76.0% (best) | — | 46.5% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 | $1.22 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $10.00 | $9.75 (best) | $10.00 |
| Cached input | $0.10 | — | $0.10 |
| Blended (3:1) | $4.00 | $3.35 (best) | $4.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Median of 4 providers | Official Anthropic API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | Yes | Yes | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-4-argon | — | claude-sonnet-5-5 |
| API providers | 24 | 4 | 34 (best) |
| Released | Oct 13, 2026 | Jun 5, 2025 | Sep 28, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2026 | Jan 31, 2025 | Jun 2026 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 4 Argon$40.00
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05$31.69
- Claude Sonnet 5.5$40.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 (48) and Claude Sonnet 5.5 (46). It leads on inputs & features. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 is cheaper at $1.22 input / $9.75 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price); Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.35 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 versus $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon (1.2× as much) and $4.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.5 (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 4 Argon has an ECI of 166.1, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 has not been scored yet and Claude Sonnet 5.5 has an ECI of 166.7.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 4 Argon and Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 have the largest context windows (1,048,576 and 1,048,576 tokens), against 1,000,000 for Claude Sonnet 5.5. Maximum output per response: Gemini 4 Argon up to 65,536, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 up to 65,536, Claude Sonnet 5.5 up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 4 Argon accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 accepts text, images, PDFs and audio; Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts text, images and PDFs. Gemini 4 Argon handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Gemini 4 Argon is the newest, released Oct 13, 2026. Claude Sonnet 5.5 came out Sep 28, 2026; Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 came out Jun 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 4 Argon Mar 2026, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 Jan 31, 2025, Claude Sonnet 5.5 Jun 2026.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
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