Claude Sonnet 4 vs OpenAI o4-mini
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
| Input | $3.00/M |
| Output | $15.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Day-to-day coding, code review, documentation |
| Benchmark | 78/100 |
OpenAI o4-mini
OpenAIUpdated mini reasoning model. Similar pricing to o3-mini with updated capabilities.
| Input | $1.10/M |
| Output | $4.40/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | General reasoning, coding tasks |
| Benchmark | 72/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4 | OpenAI o4-mini | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 78 | 72 | Claude Sonnet 4 leads by 6pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74 | 66 | Claude Sonnet 4 leads by 8pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 82 | 74 | Claude Sonnet 4 leads by 8pts |
| HumanEval | 92 | 92 | Claude Sonnet 4 leads by 0pts |
| BigCodeBench | 64 | 56 | Claude Sonnet 4 leads by 8pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Claude Sonnet 4 | OpenAI o4-mini | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.62 | $0.17 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.45 (72%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $4.66 | $1.27 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $3.39 (73%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $23.29 | $6.33 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $16.96 (73%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $1.20 | $0.30 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.90 (75%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 78 | $0.038/pt | Higher cost per point |
| OpenAI o4-mini | 72 | $0.015/pt | Better value |
OpenAI o4-mini delivers the best value at $0.015 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Claude Sonnet 4
- + Price-performance leader
- + Strong at web development
- + Excellent code review
- - Struggles with complex algorithms
- - Less consistent on system design
OpenAI o4-mini
- + Improved reasoning at mini price
- - New model, limited data
Verdict
OpenAI o4-mini is cheaper at $1.10/M, but Claude Sonnet 4 scores higher on benchmarks (78 vs 72).
Choose OpenAI o4-mini for cost-sensitive projects, Claude Sonnet 4 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Opus 4
AnthropicAnthropic's most powerful model. Best for complex reasoning and challenging coding tasks.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
AnthropicPrevious generation Sonnet. Still excellent for coding tasks at the same price point.
Claude 3.5 Haiku
AnthropicFast, cost-effective model for high-volume tasks. Great for code review and simple queries.
Claude 3 Opus
AnthropicFirst generation Opus. Highest reasoning capability in the Claude 3 family.
Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.
Claude 3 Haiku
AnthropicCheapest Claude model. Fast responses for simple tasks and basic coding.