How are token costs calculated?

Multiply input tokens by the input rate and output tokens by the output rate, add the two amounts and divide by 1,000,000. A standard request example uses 1,000 input and 500 output tokens. Monthly budgets multiply the result by request volume; taxes, hidden reasoning tokens, tools and tier surcharges can add costs.

Which recorded model has the lowest request cost?

LFM 2.2 6b by Liquid AI costs $0.00002 for the standard request, with $0.01 input and $0.02 output per million tokens. This price ranking does not establish quality equivalence; verify task success and context requirements.

Can cached and batch discounts be combined?

Only recorded rates are used. Cached input can have cache-write or storage charges, while batch rates apply only to eligible asynchronous jobs. We do not automatically stack the discounts or treat an absent rate as zero. Check the linked provider source before budgeting.

How current is the public dataset?

The live pricing table synchronizes stored model records daily; public file snapshots update when the site is rebuilt. Synchronization is not independent provider verification. It contains 1,026 priced models across 124 providers, last updated 2026-10-31. Directory entries are counted separately. A synchronization date is not proof of independent verification.

Comparison · 2026-04-12 · 6 min read

GPT-5 vs Claude 4: A Complete Pricing Breakdown

We compare input, output, and per-request costs between OpenAI's GPT-5 family and Anthropic's Claude 4 lineup to help you pick the right model.

The Two Heavyweights of 2026

OpenAI's GPT-5 and Anthropic's Claude 4 represent the current pinnacle of large language models. But which one is actually cheaper to run at scale? The answer depends heavily on your use case, token ratios, and volume.

Input Token Pricing

GPT-5 charges $2.50 per million input tokens, while Claude 4 Opus comes in at $15.00 per million. That's a 6× difference on the input side alone. However, Claude 4 Sonnet offers a middle ground at $3.00 per million input tokens, making it competitive with GPT-5 for many workloads.

For applications with long system prompts or heavy context (like RAG pipelines), input pricing dominates your bill. In these cases, GPT-5 or Claude 4 Sonnet are clear winners over Claude 4 Opus.

Output Token Pricing

The output side tells a different story. GPT-5 charges $10.00 per million output tokens, while Claude 4 Opus charges $75.00 per million. Claude 4 Sonnet sits at $15.00 per million output tokens.

For code generation, long-form content, or any task that produces substantial output, these differences compound quickly.

Effective Cost Per Request

Let's model a typical chatbot interaction: 800 input tokens and 200 output tokens.

At 100K requests per month, that's the difference between $400 and $2,700.

Context Window Considerations

Both GPT-5 and Claude 4 offer 200K+ context windows, but pricing per token remains constant regardless of how much context you use. The real question is whether you *need* that much context — shorter prompts save money on both platforms.

Our Recommendation

For most production workloads, GPT-5 offers the best price-to-performance ratio. If you need Claude's specific strengths (nuanced reasoning, instruction following), Claude 4 Sonnet is the cost-effective choice. Reserve Claude 4 Opus for tasks where quality absolutely cannot be compromised and budget is secondary.

Use our Calculator to model your exact costs across both providers.