Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.4 mini vs GPT-5.2
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-5.4 mini 63, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62, GPT-5.2 61). The right pick depends on what you value most.
AnthropicClaude Sonnet 4.6
62/100- ECI152.3
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context1M
OpenAIGPT-5.4 mini
63/100- ECI148.8
- Price$0.75 / $4.50
- Context400K
- OpenAI
GPT-5.2
61/100- ECI153.5
- Price$1.75 / $14.00
- Context400K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (GPT-5.4 mini 63/100, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62/100, GPT-5.2 61/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.2 for raw capability, GPT-5.4 mini on price and Claude Sonnet 4.6 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.2Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 · GPT-5.4 mini 148.8
- Lowest priceGPT-5.4 miniGPT-5.4 mini $1.69 · GPT-5.2 $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-5.4 mini 400,000 · GPT-5.2 400,000 tokens
- Widest inputsClaude Sonnet 4.6Claude Sonnet 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs · GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · GPT-5.2: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-5.4 mini | GPT-5.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 81 | 77 | 83 |
| Price | 25% | 13 | 39 | 18 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 70 | 70 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 44 | 44 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 63/100 | 61/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | GPT-5.4 miniOpenAI | GPT-5.2OpenAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 152.3 | 148.8 | 153.5 (best) |
| ECI rank | #40 of 148 | #56 of 148 | #38 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 87.4% | 86.9% | 91.4% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 51.2% | 67.4% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 85.8% | 88.9% | 96.1% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 75.2% (best) | — | 73.8% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 35.5% | 29.4% | 37.1% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $3.00 | $0.75 (best) | $1.75 |
| Output | $15.00 | $4.50 (best) | $14.00 |
| Cached input | $0.30 | $0.075 (best) | $0.175 |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $1.69 (best) | $4.81 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Anthropic API | Official OpenAI API | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 400,000 tokens | 400,000 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · max | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | claude-sonnet-4-6 | gpt-5.4-mini | gpt-5.2 |
| API providers | 41 (best) | 29 | 21 |
| Released | Feb 17, 2026 | Mar 17, 2026 | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 2025 | Aug 31, 2025 | Aug 31, 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
- GPT-5.4 mini$16.50
- GPT-5.2$45.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.6, GPT-5.4 mini or GPT-5.2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (GPT-5.4 mini 63/100, Claude Sonnet 4.6 62/100, GPT-5.2 61/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.2 for raw capability, GPT-5.4 mini on price 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, GPT-5.4 mini or GPT-5.2?
GPT-5.4 mini is cheaper at $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). GPT-5.2 costs $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 $1.69 per million tokens for GPT-5.4 mini versus $4.81 for GPT-5.2 (2.9× as much) and $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (3.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 (#38 of 148), Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 (#40 of 148) and GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (151.7–155.4 vs 149.6–154.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.2 91.4%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 87.4%, GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.2 96.1%, GPT-5.4 mini 88.9%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 85.8%; SimpleQA Verified — GPT-5.2 37.1%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 35.5%, GPT-5.4 mini 29.4%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.2 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three 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-5.4 mini and 400,000 for GPT-5.2. Maximum output per response: Claude Sonnet 4.6 up to 64,000, GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, GPT-5.2 up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts text, images and PDFs; GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; GPT-5.2 accepts text and images. Claude Sonnet 4.6 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Claude Sonnet 4.6, GPT-5.4 mini and GPT-5.2 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 mini is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. Claude Sonnet 4.6 came out Feb 17, 2026; GPT-5.2 came out Dec 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 4.6 Aug 31, 2025, GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 2025, GPT-5.2 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.
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