Comparison · Anthropic and OpenAI

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6 Sol

Listed API prices of Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-6 Sol turned into the cost of the same three standard tasks, with speed from our own test requests in the United States and what each provider’s API documentation says about features that break on a switch. Output quality and answer length are not compared.

Calculated impact cost per task and per month

For an L2 task (deep analysis over a 50,000-token document, 3 steps), Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-6 Sol both cost $0.348 at the prices listed in the United States on , the same amount, counting visible output only, without cache discounts or hidden reasoning.

Head to head: Claude Sonnet 5.5: $0.348; GPT-6 Sol: $0.348 Calculated from published rates Input and visible output are priced separately for the same task. 159,000 input + 3,000 visible output tokens per task. No cache discount; hidden reasoning excluded.
Head to head.Calculated from published rates Input and visible output are priced separately for the same task. 159,000 input + 3,000 visible output tokens per task. No cache discount; hidden reasoning excluded. Open image · Explore the chart · Measured Lab · CC BY 4.0
TaskClaude Sonnet 5.5, per taskGPT-6 Sol, per taskClaude Sonnet 5.5, per monthGPT-6 Sol, per monthClaude Sonnet 5.5 vs GPT-6 Sol, per task
L1Micro-task (classification or strict JSON extraction)$0.0050per L1 task$0.0050per L1 task$73.00per month$73.00per monthsame
L2Deep analysis over a 50,000-token document$0.348per L2 task$0.348per L2 task$5,080.80per month$5,080.80per monthsame
L3Agentic coding loop, 15 steps$2.72per L3 task$2.72per L3 task$39,726.60per month$39,726.60per monthsame

Calculated Per month: 20 tasks an hour around the clock, 730 hours.

Prices USD per 1M tokens

PriceClaude Sonnet 5.5GPT-6 Sol
Input, per 1M tokens$2.00$2.00
Output, per 1M tokens$10.00$10.00
Price fromProvider's price list · source page PublishedProvider's price list · source page Published
Read · the United States · the United States
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,050,000 tokens

What can I use it for? six common tasks, our data checks

Quality on your task: not measured by Measured Lab yet.

TaskClaude Sonnet 5.5GPT-6 Sol
Answer customer messagesFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Pull data from invoices and documents with strict JSON and page imagesFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Summarize documents and meetingsFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Translate contentFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Chat assistant on your websiteFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Write and review code with tool callsFits on price and contextFits on price and context
Tasks it fits6 of 66 of 6

Checks of our data for six common tasks: a published price, a context window and answer length for the task and, where the task needs them, strict JSON output, page images and tool calls; prices, cost a month and terms for each model on its model card. Compare models for your own task in the model picker.

Speed in the US Observed our test requests

In our test requests from the United States, the median time to the first answer token was 961 ms for Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Direct API · Anthropic) and 2,108 ms for GPT-6 Sol (Direct API · OpenAI).

Model and routeTime to first answer token, medianOutput speed, medianAnswers
Claude Sonnet 5.5Direct API · Anthropic961 ms range 363 ms–8,537 ms115 tokens/s range 67.7 tokens/s–244 tokens/s115 answers on 23 dates
GPT-6 SolDirect API · OpenAI2,108 ms range 1,204 ms–4,702 ms138 tokens/s range 74.0 tokens/s–306 tokens/s115 answers on 23 dates

The same short request to every model, sent from a measurement point in the United States; medians of successful answers on at least 2 different dates, latest on . How we measure

What breaks when you switch Published provider documentation

Moving from Anthropic to OpenAI: every feature that Anthropic’s documentation lists as supported is also listed as supported by OpenAI.

Moving from OpenAI to Anthropic: every feature that OpenAI’s documentation lists as supported is also listed as supported by Anthropic.

What each provider’s own API documentation says, read ; “not stated” is not the same as “no”. Quotes and sources: what breaks when you switch AI APIs.

All model comparisons · How we check prices

Explore the numbers

Calculated from published rates

The same work. Two bills.

Input and visible output are priced separately for the same task.

$0.0000L2 task differenceGPT-6 Sol difference
$0.0000L2 monthly differenceAssumption: 20 tasks/hour × 730 hours
1.15 sMedian wait differenceGPT-6 Sol starts later
Claude Sonnet 5.5$0.348GPT-6 Sol$0.348$0.00$0.10$0.20$0.30$0.40Claude Sonnet 5.5$0.348GPT-6 Sol$0.348$0.00$0.10$0.20$0.30$0.40
Fresh inputVisible output

159,000 input + 3,000 visible output tokens per task. No cache discount; hidden reasoning excluded.

Both listed prices produce the same task cost.

Claude Sonnet 5.5$0.0050GPT-6 Sol$0.0050$0.00$0.002$0.004$0.006Claude Sonnet 5.5$0.0050GPT-6 Sol$0.0050$0.00$0.002$0.004$0.006
Fresh inputVisible output

1,500 input + 200 visible output tokens per task. No cache discount; hidden reasoning excluded.

Both listed prices produce the same task cost.

Claude Sonnet 5.5$2.72GPT-6 Sol$2.72$0$1$2$3Claude Sonnet 5.5$2.72GPT-6 Sol$2.72$0$1$2$3
Fresh inputVisible output

1,315,500 input + 9,000 visible output tokens per task. No cache discount; hidden reasoning excluded.

Both listed prices produce the same task cost.

Claude Sonnet 5.5$5,080.80GPT-6 Sol$5,080.80$0$2,000$4,000$6,000Claude Sonnet 5.5$5,080.80GPT-6 Sol$5,080.80$0$2,000$4,000$6,000
Fresh inputVisible output

Assumption: 20 tasks/hour × 730 hours = 14,600 tasks/month.

Observed · United States

Wait and streaming speed

The same short request. Each route must have successful answers on at least two dates.

Claude Sonnet 5.5

Direct API · Anthropic · 115 answers on 23 dates.

First answer token 961 ms
Other published US routes · medians0.05.010.015.020.0secondsNearest US route medians0.05.010.015.020.0seconds

Nearby: GPT-6 Sol · 2.11 s.

Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 961 ms median; observed range 363 ms–8.54 s.

Output speed 115 tokens/s
Other published US routes · medians0100200300400tokens/sNearest US route medians0100200300400tokens/s

Nearby: GPT-6 Sol · 138 tokens/s.

Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 115 tokens/s median; observed range 67.7 tokens/s–244 tokens/s.

Observed · independent medians

More output than the answer shows.

Visible answer64Hidden reasoning0020406080Visible answer64Hidden reasoning0020406080

Calculated median cost per request: $0.00162.

Visible outputHidden reasoning

Visible output and hidden reasoning are independent medians and are not added together. Request cost is the median of individually priced requests. Hidden reasoning is billed at the output rate.

Published context window: 1,000,000 tokens.

GPT-6 Sol

Direct API · OpenAI · 115 answers on 23 dates.

First answer token 2.11 s
Other published US routes · medians0.05.010.015.020.0secondsNearest US route medians0.05.010.015.020.0seconds

Nearby: Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 961 ms.

GPT-6 Sol · 2.11 s median; observed range 1.20 s–4.70 s.

Output speed 138 tokens/s
Other published US routes · medians0100200300400tokens/sNearest US route medians0100200300400tokens/s

Nearby: Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 115 tokens/s.

GPT-6 Sol · 138 tokens/s median; observed range 74.0 tokens/s–306 tokens/s.

Observed · independent medians

More output than the answer shows.

Visible answer76Hidden reasoning80020406080Visible answer76Hidden reasoning80020406080

Calculated median cost per request: $0.0023.

Visible outputHidden reasoning

Visible output and hidden reasoning are independent medians and are not added together. Request cost is the median of individually priced requests. Hidden reasoning is billed at the output rate.

Published context window: 1,050,000 tokens.

Published higher price above 272,000 input tokens.

Published · provider documentation

What changes when you switch

A matching feature list does not measure migration quality. “Not stated” is not the same as “No”.

Feature of the APIAnthropicOpenAI
Strict JSON schemasYesYes
Parallel tool callsYesYes
Streamed tool argumentsYesYes
Reasoning with toolsYesYes
Cache covers tool definitionsYesYes

Anthropic → OpenAI: The documented supported features carry over.

OpenAI → Anthropic: The documented supported features carry over.

Read the dated documentation and feature details.

Sources: this page; published model prices (data (JSON)); task assumptions (data (JSON)). Published prices · Observed responses · Calculated scenarios · Assumptions stated with each chart.