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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.3 Codex

Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-5.3 Codex 64, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  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. OpenAI

    GPT-5.3 Codex

    Released Feb 5, 2026

    64/100
    • ECI156.8
    • Price$1.75 / $14.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.3 Codex

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.3 Codex 64/100, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.3 Codex for raw capability and Claude Sonnet 4.6 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5.3 CodexCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.3 Codex 156.8 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3
  • Lowest priceGPT-5.3 CodexGPT-5.3 Codex $4.81 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextClaude Sonnet 4.6Claude Sonnet 4.6 1,000,000 · GPT-5.3 Codex 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsClaude Sonnet 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs · GPT-5.3 Codex: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightClaude Sonnet 4.6GPT-5.3 Codex
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8187
Price25%1318
Inputs & features15%8080
Context window10%6044
Overall100%62/10064/100
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 GPT-5.3 Codex specifications side by side
SpecificationClaude Sonnet 4.6AnthropicGPT-5.3 CodexOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)152.3156.8 (best)
ECI rank#40 of 148#18 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics85.8%—
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues75.2% (best)74.8%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions35.5%—
Price per million tokens
Input$3.00$1.75 (best)
Output$15.00$14.00 (best)
Cached input$0.30$0.175 (best)
Blended (3:1)$6.00$4.81 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Anthropic APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens (best)400,000 tokens
Max output64,000 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · maxYeslow · medium · high · xhigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDclaude-sonnet-4-6gpt-5.3-codex
API providers41 (best)19
ReleasedFeb 17, 2026Feb 5, 2026
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025Aug 31, 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
  • GPT-5.3 Codex$45.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.3 Codex?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-5.3 Codex 64/100, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.3 Codex for raw capability and Claude Sonnet 4.6 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.3 Codex?

GPT-5.3 Codex is cheaper at $1.75 input / $14.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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 $4.81 per million tokens for GPT-5.3 Codex versus $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5.3 Codex scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.3 Codex 156.8 (#18 of 148) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 (#40 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.5–160.8 vs 149.6–154.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: SWE-bench Verified — Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2%, GPT-5.3 Codex 74.8%.

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 GPT-5.3 Codex 74.8%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.3 Codex. Maximum output per response: Claude Sonnet 4.6 up to 64,000, GPT-5.3 Codex up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts text, images and PDFs; GPT-5.3 Codex accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.3 Codex are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the newest, released Feb 17, 2026. GPT-5.3 Codex came out Feb 5, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 4.6 Aug 31, 2025, GPT-5.3 Codex Aug 31, 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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