Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview comes out ahead, 68 to 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
AnthropicClaude Sonnet 4.6
62/100- ECI152.3
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context1M
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.1 Pro Preview
68/100- ECI154.8
- Price$2.00 / $12.00
- Context1.05M
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Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is our pick
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (62). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 154.8 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3
- Lowest priceGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGemini 3.1 Pro Preview $4.50 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGemini 3.1 Pro Preview 1,048,576 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewClaude Sonnet 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 81 | 84 |
| Price | 25% | 13 | 19 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 100 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 68/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGoogle |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 152.3 | 154.8 (best) |
| ECI rank | #40 of 148 | #31 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 87.4% | 94.4% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 59.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 85.8% | 95.6% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 75.2% | 75.6% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 35.5% | 73.5% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $3.00 | $2.00 (best) |
| Output | $15.00 | $12.00 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.30 | $0.20 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $4.50 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 200K: $4.00 / $18.00 |
| Price source | Official Anthropic API | Official Google API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · max | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | claude-sonnet-4-6 | gemini-3.1-pro-preview |
| API providers | 41 (best) | 26 |
| Released | Feb 17, 2026 | Feb 19, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 2025 | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6$60.00
- Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview$44.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (62). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is cheaper at $2.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $4.50 per million tokens for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview versus $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 154.8 (#31 of 148) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 (#40 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (152.6–157.3 vs 149.6–154.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 94.4%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 95.6%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 85.8%; SWE-bench Verified — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 75.6%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 73.5%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 35.5%.
Which is better for coding?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 75.6% and Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Maximum output per response: Claude Sonnet 4.6 up to 64,000, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts text, images and PDFs; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the newest, released Feb 19, 2026. Claude Sonnet 4.6 came out Feb 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 4.6 Aug 31, 2025, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Jan 2025.
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 Oct 4, 2026.
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