Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon: API price, context and cost per task
Anthropic's new everyday model against Google's new flagship - in the same price band only while Argon's introductory rate lasts.
Today both list at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Gemini 4 Argon reads more per request: 1,048,576 tokens against 1,000,000.
Data updated 2026-11-11 - source: public OpenRouter model list, refreshed daily. Prices in USD, excluding VAT.
Specs and prices side by side
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Anthropic | |
| Input, per 1M tokens | $2 | $2 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $10 | $10 |
| Cached input, per 1M | $0.1 | $0.1 |
| Batch (input / output) | $1 / $5 | $1 / $5 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 | 1,048,576 |
| Max output | 128,000 | 943,718 |
| Input types | text, images, files | text, images, files, audio, video |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| On OpenRouter since | 28 Sep 2026 | 13 Oct 2026 |
Highlighted: the cheaper price or the larger limit. "Not published" means the figure is not in the public model listing yet.
What a month of work costs
Four typical workloads at today's list prices. Reasoning models also bill their thinking as output tokens, so treat output-heavy numbers as a floor.
| Workload | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot10,000 conversations a month, about 1,500 input and 400 output tokens each | $70 | $70 | same |
| Coding agent300 tasks a month, about 80,000 input tokens (code context re-read across steps) and 8,000 output tokens each | $72 | $72 | same |
| Coding agent with caching70% of input served from the prompt cache | $40.08 | $40.08 | |
| Long-document analysis1,000 documents a month, about 50,000 tokens in and a 1,500-token summary out | $115 | $115 | same |
| Content drafting600 articles a month, about 3,000 tokens of brief in and 2,500 tokens of draft out | $18.60 | $18.60 | same |
Price stability over the last 30 days
- Claude Sonnet 5.5: no change in the last 30 days.
- Gemini 4 Argon: no change in the last 30 days.
What the vendors and benchmarks say
Claude Sonnet 5.5
"Claude Sonnet 5.5 is Anthropic's Sonnet-class model for well-scoped everyday work, succeeding Claude Sonnet 5 as a direct upgrade."model card on OpenRouter
- Listed on OpenRouter on 28 September 2026 as the direct successor to Claude Sonnet 5. Source: OpenRouter
Gemini 4 Argon
"Gemini 4 Argon is Google's flagship reasoning model, built for complex software engineering, deep mathematical and scientific problem solving, and autonomous multi-step agents."model card on OpenRouter
- Announced on 30 September 2026 - Google's first new flagship generation since Gemini 3 in November 2025. Source: Google
- The output limit grew from 64,000 to 1,000,000 tokens, which Google calls the highest in the industry. Source: Google
- Introductory API rate: $2 input / $10 output per million tokens, cached input 95% cheaper. After the introductory period: $4 / $20. Source: Google
- Google-reported results: DeepSWE v1.1 77.9%, AutomationBench 51.3% (1st), LVBench 91.7%. Text Arena 1525 (1st), but Code Arena WebDev 1679 (8th). Source: Google; arena rankings
- Staged access: trusted testers first, then paying API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers. Not in the public API as of 30 September 2026. Source: Google
Which one to pick
Sonnet 5.5 is generally available and is Anthropic's direct upgrade over Sonnet 5 for feature work and bug fixing. Argon brings a 1,000,000-token output limit and flagship-class results reported by Google, but staged access. For long-output jobs such as whole-codebase rewrites and long reports, Argon is the one to watch; for day-to-day coding, Sonnet 5.5 is ready now.
Cheaper models with a similar context window
Models from our comparison set that cost less than both on a blended basis and support tool calling. They are not equivalent in quality - test before switching.
- Qwen3.8 Max (Alibaba (Qwen)): $2 / $6 per million tokens, 1M context
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (Google): $0.825 / $4.13 per million tokens, 1.05M context
- DeepSeek V4 Pro (DeepSeek): $0.955 / $1.91 per million tokens, 1.05M context
Related reading
- GPT-6.1 Terra vs Claude Sonnet 5.5: Polish Test Results
- Claude Sonnet 5.5: Pricing, Benchmarks, and Tested Performance
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 Context Window: 1 Million Token Capacity
- Gemini 4 Carbon test: 50+ tasks vs Argon, Claude Fable 5.2 and GPT-6.1 Sol
- Claude Fable 5.2 vs GPT-6.1 Sol vs Gemini 4 Argon: Price, Benchmarks
- GPT-6.1 Terra vs Gemini 4 Argon: Polish Test Results
How we calculate
Prices are the public per-token list rates from OpenRouter's model list, which match the vendors' own API prices for first-party models and show the current routed price for open-weight models served by several hosts. Monthly costs multiply those rates by the token volumes in each workload; caching assumes the stated share of input is billed at the cached-input rate. Benchmarks and claims are quoted from the named sources, mostly the vendors themselves - treat them as a guide and test on your own tasks. See also the AI cost calculator and all tracked model prices.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
As of 11 Nov 2026, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens; Gemini 4 Argon costs $2 and $10. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is cheaper in 0 of the 4 monthly workloads we price on this page. The real bill also depends on how many reasoning tokens each model writes.
Which has the larger context window?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 reads up to 1,000,000 tokens and can write up to 128,000; Gemini 4 Argon reads up to 1,048,576 and writes up to 943,718.
How much does a support chatbot cost on each model?
For 10,000 conversations a month (about 15 million input and 4 million output tokens) you would pay about $70 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $70 on Gemini 4 Argon at list prices, before any caching or batch discounts.
Do they offer prompt caching or batch discounts?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 lists cached input at $0.1 per million and a batch rate of $1 / $5. Gemini 4 Argon lists cached input at $0.1 per million and a batch rate of $1 / $5. Caching matters most for agents and chatbots that resend the same context on every turn.
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