Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
Official Anthropic and Google API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-10-19. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
Same bill; Gemini 4 Argon wins more LMArena tasks.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon have the same list price per token ($2 in, $10 out per 1M). Gemini 4 Argon scores 100 points higher for roleplay; Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 31 points higher for coding. Across 6 shared LMArena tasks, Gemini 4 Argon leads 5 to 1. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $90 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $90 on Gemini 4 Argon.
- Pick Claude Sonnet 5.5 if you care most about coding (+31).
- Pick Gemini 4 Argon if you care most about roleplay (+100), chat (+86) and creative writing (+68).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $2 | $2 |
| Cached input | None | $0.10 |
| Output | $10 | $10 |
| Blend 3:1 | $4 | $4 |
| Sample month, medium | $90 | $90 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 86/100 #3 of 23 | 55/100 #8 of 23 |
| Chat | 14/100 #14 of 25 | 100/100 #1 of 25 |
| Creative writing | 27/100 #10 of 25 | 95/100 #2 of 25 |
| Roleplay and characters | 0/100 #15 of 25 | 100/100 #1 of 25 |
| Reasoning and math | 53/100 #7 of 24 | 100/100 #1 of 24 |
| Vision | 24/100 #14 of 21 | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 82/100 #6 of 23 | 83/100 #5 of 23 |
| Details | ||
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| API model id | claude-sonnet-5.5 | gemini-4-argon |
| Notes | 5-minute cache writes $2.50. | Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
| Official pricing | Anthropic pricing | Google pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #3 of 23 (86/100), Gemini 4 Argon #8 of 23 (55/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #14 of 25 (14/100), Gemini 4 Argon #1 of 25 (100/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #10 of 25 (27/100), Gemini 4 Argon #2 of 25 (95/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #15 of 25 (0/100), Gemini 4 Argon #1 of 25 (100/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #7 of 24 (53/100), Gemini 4 Argon #1 of 24 (100/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #14 of 21 (24/100), Gemini 4 Argon not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): Claude Sonnet 5.5 not ranked, Gemini 4 Argon not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): Claude Sonnet 5.5 #6 of 23 (82/100), Gemini 4 Argon #5 of 23 (83/100)
Pricing details from the official pages
Claude Sonnet 5.5 lists $2 input, $10 output per 1M tokens on Anthropic pricing. Gemini 4 Argon lists $2 input, $10 output, $0.10 cached input per 1M tokens on Google pricing. Prices checked 2026-10-19.
- Claude Sonnet 5.5: 5-minute cache writes $2.50.
- Gemini 4 Argon: Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $9 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $90 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $900 vs $900.
FAQ
Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 cheaper than Gemini 4 Argon?
They have the same list price: $2 input and $10 output per 1M tokens.
Which is better for coding, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
On LMArena's Code Arena Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 86/100 (#3 of 23) and Gemini 4 Argon 55/100 (#8 of 23), so Claude Sonnet 5.5 is ahead by 31 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 5.5: 1M tokens. Gemini 4 Argon: 1M tokens. Both list the same window.
How much do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $9 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $90 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $900 vs $900. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.