Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs GPT-4o benchmark

Name: Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs GPT-4o AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This page compares Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Anthropic) and GPT-4o (OpenAI) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is ahead by 189 points (1,524 vs 1,335; seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 resolves 70.1% versus 54.8% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). GPT-4o streams faster (110 tok/s) while GPT-4o is the cheaper output token ($10/1M). Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the larger context window (1M tokens). Every cell below is a dated snapshot from a named public source — we do not invent missing scores, and we do not run SWE-bench ourselves.

Share Analysis:

WhatsApp Telegram X / Post LinkedIn Reddit

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Workhorse Anthropic model: most of Opus coding quality at a mid-tier price.

Elo 1,524$15/1M out

OpenAI

GPT-4o

Previous OpenAI flagship. Still a common compare baseline on legacy pages.

Elo 1,335$10/1M out

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Instant pairwise benchmark recalculation across 400+ LLMs

Model A

Model B

Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet vs GPT-5

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (6)vsGPT-4o (4)

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 6W (60%)Overall: Claude Sonnet 4.5GPT-4o: 4W (40%)

← Claude Sonnet 4.5GPT-4o →

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,524vs1,335

Coding Elo

1,531vs—

SWE-bench

70.1%vs54.8%

LiveBench

67.4%vs54.2%

GPQA Diamond

80.2%vs73.2%

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 5WGPT-4o: 0W

GPT-4o (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

88 tok/svs110 tok/s

Time to first token

240 msvs180 ms

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 0WGPT-4o: 2W

GPT-4o (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$15/1Mvs$10/1M

Input price

$3/1Mvs$2.5/1M

Context window

1Mvs128k

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 1WGPT-4o: 2W

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Dimensional AdvantageClaude Sonnet 4.5 4/6

Preference Elo

Claude Sonnet 4.5

189 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

GPT-4o

22 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

GPT-4o

$5.00/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—

Elo

High is better

+14%1,524

EloHigh is better

1,335

Code Elo

High is better

1,531

Code EloHigh is better

—

LiveBench

High is better

+24%67.4%

LiveBenchHigh is better

54.2%

SWE-bench

High is better

+28%70.1%

SWE-benchHigh is better

54.8%

GPQA

High is better

+10%80.2%

GPQAHigh is better

73.2%

TTFT

Low is better

240 ms

TTFTLow is better

180 ms+33%

Speed

High is better

88 tok/s

SpeedHigh is better

110 tok/s+25%

In $

Low is better

$3/1M

In $Low is better

$2.5/1M+20%

Out $

Low is better

$15/1M

Out $Low is better

$10/1M+50%

Context

High is better

+681%1M

ContextHigh is better

128k

Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs based on published $/1M tokens.

Save up to 28% with GPT-4o

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo

Quick Presets:

Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out

RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)

Claude Sonnet 4.5$330.00 / mo

In: $105.00Out: $225.00

GPT-4o$237.50 / mo

In: $87.50Out: $150.00

Estimated Cost Delta

GPT-4o is estimated to save $92.50/month ($1,110/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

1
Claude Sonnet 4.5:Pick Claude Sonnet 4.5 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
2
GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when you are optimizing output cost.
3
GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsClaude Sonnet 4.5

Higher SWE-bench (70.1%).

High-volume chatGPT-4o

Lower output list price ($10/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4o

Lower TTFT (180 ms).

Long-document RAGClaude Sonnet 4.5

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionClaude Sonnet 4.5

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4.5).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Higher SWE-bench (70.1%).
High-volume chat	GPT-4o	Lower output list price ($10/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	GPT-4o	Lower TTFT (180 ms).
Long-document RAG	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Larger window (1M).
Screenshots / vision	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4.5).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news

launchFeb 18, 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the previous workhorse — still a valid vs baseline

Most of Opus 4.5 coding at a mid-tier price. Sonnet 5 replaced it as the buy; 4.5 remains a compare baseline.

newsMay 13, 2024

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Deprecated for buying. Kept because “4o vs sonnet” is still a typed query.

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

0 total votes

Community Discussions (0)

No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!

Share card

The real PNG is generated at /compare/claude-sonnet-4-5-vs-gpt-4o/opengraph-image for crawlers.

PNG

CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Elo 1,524

LiveBench67.4%

SWE-bench70.1%

Speed88 tok/s

Output cost$15/1M

OpenAI

GPT-4o

Elo 1,335

LiveBench54.2%

SWE-bench54.8%

Speed110 tok/s

Output cost$10/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?: Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,524). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?: Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads SWE-bench at 70.1% vs 54.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: GPT-4o output tokens are $10/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?: GPT-4o has the lower time-to-first-token (180 ms vs 240 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?: Claude Sonnet 4.5 accepts 1M tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?: Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Claude Sonnet 4.5 and GPT-4o Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Claude Sonnet 4.5 matchups →|All GPT-4o matchups →

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4 (previous sonnet)Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5 (next sonnet)GPT-4o vs GPT-4 Turbo (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-4o vs OpenAI: o1 (next gpt-flagship)GPT-4.5 Orion vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 GPT-5.6 Terra vs Claude Sonnet 4.5

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs GPT-4o benchmark

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (6)vsGPT-4o (4)

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 6W (60%)Overall: Claude Sonnet 4.5GPT-4o: 4W (40%)

← Claude Sonnet 4.5GPT-4o →

Claude Sonnet 4.5 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,524vs1,335

Coding Elo

1,531vs—

SWE-bench

70.1%vs54.8%

LiveBench

67.4%vs54.2%

GPQA Diamond

80.2%vs73.2%

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 5WGPT-4o: 0W

GPT-4o (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

88 tok/svs110 tok/s

Time to first token

240 msvs180 ms

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 0WGPT-4o: 2W

GPT-4o (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$15/1Mvs$10/1M

Input price

$3/1Mvs$2.5/1M

Context window

1Mvs128k

Claude Sonnet 4.5: 1WGPT-4o: 2W

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsClaude Sonnet 4.5

Higher SWE-bench (70.1%).

High-volume chatGPT-4o

Lower output list price ($10/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4o

Lower TTFT (180 ms).

Long-document RAGClaude Sonnet 4.5

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionClaude Sonnet 4.5

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4.5).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Higher SWE-bench (70.1%).
High-volume chat	GPT-4o	Lower output list price ($10/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	GPT-4o	Lower TTFT (180 ms).
Long-document RAG	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Larger window (1M).
Screenshots / vision	Claude Sonnet 4.5	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Claude Sonnet 4.5).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,524). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.

Which is better at coding, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads SWE-bench at 70.1% vs 54.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

GPT-4o output tokens are $10/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-4o?

GPT-4o has the lower time-to-first-token (180 ms vs 240 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.

Which has the larger context window?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 accepts 1M tokens versus 128k.

Can I self-host either model?

Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Claude Sonnet 4.5 and GPT-4o Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Claude Sonnet 4.5

GPT-4o

GPT-4o

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the previous workhorse — still a valid vs baseline

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Claude Sonnet 4.5

GPT-4o

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Claude Sonnet 4.5

GPT-4o

GPT-4o

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Claude Sonnet 4.5 is the previous workhorse — still a valid vs baseline

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Claude Sonnet 4.5

GPT-4o

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons