Last verified 2025-11-26 (left) · 2025-11-26 (right)
Claude Opus 4.5 vs Gemini 3 Pro Preview — Pricing & Capability Comparison
Claude Opus 4.5 charges $5.00 per million input tokens and $25.00 per million output tokens. Gemini 3 Pro Preview comes in at $2.00 / $12.00. Context windows span 200K vs 2M tokens respectively.
TL;DR — Quick Comparison
- ✓Gemini 3 Pro Preview is cheaper overall: $14.00 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $30.00 for Claude Opus 4.5 — saves $16.00 per 1M tokens
- ✓Input pricing: Claude Opus 4.5 $5.00/1M vs Gemini 3 Pro Preview $2.00/1M
- ✓Output pricing: Claude Opus 4.5 $25.00/1M vs Gemini 3 Pro Preview $12.00/1M
- ✓Context window: Gemini 3 Pro Preview offers more (2M vs 200K)
- ✓Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern
Input price (per 1M)
Claude Opus 4.5
$5.00
Gemini 3 Pro Preview
$2.00
Gemini 3 Pro Preview leads here
Output price (per 1M)
Claude Opus 4.5
$25.00
Gemini 3 Pro Preview
$12.00
Gemini 3 Pro Preview leads here
Context window
Claude Opus 4.5
200,000 tokens
Gemini 3 Pro Preview
2,000,000 tokens
Gemini 3 Pro Preview leads here
Cached input
Claude Opus 4.5
$0.500
Gemini 3 Pro Preview
$0.200
Gemini 3 Pro Preview leads here
Cost comparison for 10K-token workloads
Side-by-side pricing for identical workloads (10,000 total tokens per request) across different distributions.
| Scenario | Claude Opus 4.5 | Gemini 3 Pro Preview | Claude Opus 4.5 cached | Gemini 3 Pro Preview cached |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Balanced conversation 50% input · 50% output | $0.150 | $0.0700 | $0.128 | $0.0610 |
Input-heavy workflow 80% input · 20% output | $0.0900 | $0.0400 | $0.0540 | $0.0256 |
Generation heavy 30% input · 70% output | $0.190 | $0.0900 | $0.177 | $0.0846 |
Cached system prompt 90% cached input · 10% fresh output | $0.0700 | $0.0300 | $0.0295 | $0.0138 |
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper: Claude Opus 4.5 or Gemini 3 Pro Preview?
Gemini 3 Pro Preview is cheaper for input tokens at $2.00 per 1M tokens compared to $5.00. For output, Gemini 3 Pro Preview costs $12.00 per 1M tokens versus $25.00 for Claude Opus 4.5.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for Claude Opus 4.5?
Claude Opus 4.5 pricing: $5.00 per 1M input tokens and $25.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for Gemini 3 Pro Preview?
Gemini 3 Pro Preview pricing: $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $12.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 2,000,000 tokens.
How much does it cost per 1K tokens?
Per 1K tokens: Claude Opus 4.5 costs $0.0050 input / $0.0250 output. Gemini 3 Pro Preview costs $0.0020 input / $0.0120 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.
Which model supports a larger context window?
Gemini 3 Pro Preview offers 2,000,000 tokens (2M) versus 200K for Claude Opus 4.5.
What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?
For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: Claude Opus 4.5 would cost approximately $100.00, while Gemini 3 Pro Preview would cost $44.00. Gemini 3 Pro Preview is more economical for this usage pattern.
Do these models support prompt caching?
Claude Opus 4.5 supports prompt caching at $0.500 per 1M cached tokens, reducing costs for repeated context by up to 90%. Gemini 3 Pro Preview supports caching at $0.200 per 1M tokens, saving up to 90%.
Which model is best for my use case?
Choose Gemini 3 Pro Preview for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose Gemini 3 Pro Preview if you need 2M context for long documents or conversations. Consider prompt caching if you have repeated context. Use our token calculator to model your specific usage pattern.