OpenAI o4-mini vs Claude Sonnet 4 Lite
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
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 |
Claude Sonnet 4 Lite
AnthropicLighter version of Claude Sonnet 4. Good balance of quality and cost for day-to-day coding.
| Input | $1.00/M |
| Output | $5.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Day-to-day coding, documentation, cost-conscious teams |
| Benchmark | 70/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | OpenAI o4-mini | Claude Sonnet 4 Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72 | 70 | o4-mini leads by 2pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 66 | 64 | o4-mini leads by 2pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 74 | 74 | o4-mini leads by 0pts |
| HumanEval | 92 | 88 | o4-mini leads by 4pts |
| BigCodeBench | 56 | 56 | o4-mini leads by 0pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o4-mini | Claude Sonnet 4 Lite | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.17 | $0.21 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.03 (17%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.27 | $1.55 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.29 (19%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $6.33 | $7.76 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $1.44 (19%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.30 | $0.40 | OpenAI o4-mini saves $0.10 (25%) |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI o4-mini | 72 | $0.015/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Claude Sonnet 4 Lite | 70 | $0.014/pt | Better value |
Claude Sonnet 4 Lite delivers the best value at $0.014 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
OpenAI o4-mini
- + Improved reasoning at mini price
- - New model, limited data
Claude Sonnet 4 Lite
- + Good value
- + Strong coding
- - Less capable than full Sonnet 4
Verdict
Claude Sonnet 4 Lite is cheaper at $1.00/M, but OpenAI o4-mini scores higher on benchmarks (72 vs 70).
Choose Claude Sonnet 4 Lite for cost-sensitive projects, OpenAI o4-mini when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
Claude Sonnet 4
AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
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.