Last verified 2025-11-26 (left) · 2025-09-22 (right)
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs GPT-5 Chat — Pricing & Capability Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 charges $3.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens. GPT-5 Chat comes in at $1.25 / $10.00. Context windows span 200K vs 200K tokens respectively.
TL;DR — Quick Comparison
- ✓GPT-5 Chat is cheaper overall: $11.25 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $18.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.5 — saves $6.75 per 1M tokens
- ✓Input pricing: Claude Sonnet 4.5 $3.00/1M vs GPT-5 Chat $1.25/1M
- ✓Output pricing: Claude Sonnet 4.5 $15.00/1M vs GPT-5 Chat $10.00/1M
- ✓Context window: Claude Sonnet 4.5 offers more (200K vs 200K)
- ✓Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern
Input price (per 1M)
Claude Sonnet 4.5
$3.00
GPT-5 Chat
$1.25
GPT-5 Chat leads here
Output price (per 1M)
Claude Sonnet 4.5
$15.00
GPT-5 Chat
$10.00
GPT-5 Chat leads here
Context window
Claude Sonnet 4.5
200,000 tokens
GPT-5 Chat
200,000 tokens
Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads here
Cached input
Claude Sonnet 4.5
$0.300
GPT-5 Chat
$0.125
GPT-5 Chat 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 Sonnet 4.5 | GPT-5 Chat | Claude Sonnet 4.5 cached | GPT-5 Chat cached |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Balanced conversation 50% input · 50% output | $0.0900 | $0.0563 | $0.0765 | $0.0506 |
Input-heavy workflow 80% input · 20% output | $0.0540 | $0.0300 | $0.0324 | $0.0210 |
Generation heavy 30% input · 70% output | $0.114 | $0.0738 | $0.106 | $0.0704 |
Cached system prompt 90% cached input · 10% fresh output | $0.0420 | $0.0212 | $0.0177 | $0.0111 |
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper: Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-5 Chat?
GPT-5 Chat is cheaper for input tokens at $1.25 per 1M tokens compared to $3.00. For output, GPT-5 Chat costs $10.00 per 1M tokens versus $15.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.5.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for Claude Sonnet 4.5?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 pricing: $3.00 per 1M input tokens and $15.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.
What is the cost per 1M tokens for GPT-5 Chat?
GPT-5 Chat pricing: $1.25 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.
How much does it cost per 1K tokens?
Per 1K tokens: Claude Sonnet 4.5 costs $0.0030 input / $0.0150 output. GPT-5 Chat costs $0.0013 input / $0.0100 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.
Which model supports a larger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 offers 200,000 tokens (200K) versus 200K for GPT-5 Chat.
What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?
For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: Claude Sonnet 4.5 would cost approximately $60.00, while GPT-5 Chat would cost $32.50. GPT-5 Chat is more economical for this usage pattern.
Do these models support prompt caching?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports prompt caching at $0.300 per 1M cached tokens, reducing costs for repeated context by up to 90%. GPT-5 Chat supports caching at $0.125 per 1M tokens, saving up to 90%.
Which model is best for my use case?
Choose GPT-5 Chat for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 if you need 200K context for long documents or conversations. Consider prompt caching if you have repeated context. Use our token calculator to model your specific usage pattern.