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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3 Pro Preview

Gemini 3 Pro Preview comes out ahead, 67 to 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Anthropic

    Claude Sonnet 4.6

    Released Feb 17, 2026

    62/100
    • ECI152.3
    • Price$3.00 / $15.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Claude Sonnet 4.6
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 3 Pro Preview

    Released Nov 18, 2025

    67/100
    • ECI153.0
    • Price$2.00 / $12.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 3 Pro Preview

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 3 Pro Preview is our pick

Gemini 3 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (62). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemini 3 Pro PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3 Pro Preview 153.0 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3
  • Lowest priceGemini 3 Pro PreviewGemini 3 Pro Preview $4.50 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 3 Pro PreviewGemini 3 Pro Preview 1,048,576 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 3 Pro PreviewClaude Sonnet 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs · Gemini 3 Pro Preview: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightClaude Sonnet 4.6Gemini 3 Pro Preview
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8182
Price25%1319
Inputs & features15%80100
Context window10%6061
Overall100%62/10067/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3 Pro Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationClaude Sonnet 4.6AnthropicGemini 3 Pro PreviewGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)152.3153.0 (best)
ECI rank#40 of 148#39 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4%92.6% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics85.8%91.4% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues75.2% (best)72.9%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions35.5%—
Price per million tokens
Input$3.00$2.00 (best)
Output$15.00$12.00 (best)
Cached input$0.30—
Blended (3:1)$6.00$4.50 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Anthropic APIMedian of 2 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output64,000 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · maxYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDclaude-sonnet-4-6—
API providers41 (best)3
ReleasedFeb 17, 2026Nov 18, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025Jan 2025
03 — Cost

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 Pro Preview$44.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Gemini 3 Pro Preview?

Gemini 3 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (62). It leads on 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 Pro Preview?

Gemini 3 Pro Preview is cheaper at $2.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). 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 Pro Preview versus $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemini 3 Pro Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3 Pro Preview 153.0 (#39 of 148) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 (#40 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (150.6–155.2 vs 149.6–154.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3 Pro Preview 92.6%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 3 Pro Preview 91.4%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 85.8%; SWE-bench Verified — Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2%, Gemini 3 Pro Preview 72.9%.

Which is better for coding?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2% and Gemini 3 Pro Preview 72.9%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 3 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 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 Pro Preview accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 3 Pro Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Gemini 3 Pro Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the newest, released Feb 17, 2026. Gemini 3 Pro Preview came out Nov 18, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 4.6 Aug 31, 2025, Gemini 3 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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