Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.6 Pro benchmark

Name: Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.6 Pro AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This page compares Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) and Gemini 3.6 Pro (Google) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, Gemini 3.6 Pro is ahead by 14 points (1,570 vs 1,556; seed-bootstrap (Aug 16, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, Gemini 3.6 Pro resolves 74.6% versus 73.8% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 16, 2026)). Claude Sonnet 5 streams faster (118 tok/s) while Gemini 3.6 Pro is the cheaper output token ($5/1M). Gemini 3.6 Pro has the larger context window (2M 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.

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Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 5

Anthropic workhorse. Official $2/$10 per 1M tokens made permanent on Aug 10 2026.

Elo 1,556$10/1M out

Google

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Current Google Pro-class multimodal model. Long context, strong coding, billed like the 3.x Pro tier.

Elo 1,570$5/1M out

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Model A

Model B

Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Claude Sonnet 5 (2)vsGemini 3.6 Pro (8)

Claude Sonnet 5: 2W (20%)Overall: Gemini 3.6 ProGemini 3.6 Pro: 8W (80%)

← Claude Sonnet 5Gemini 3.6 Pro →

Gemini 3.6 Pro (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Preference Elo

1,556vs1,570

Coding Elo

1,562vs1,566

SWE-bench

73.8%vs74.6%

LiveBench

70.4%vs71.8%

GPQA Diamond

82.8%vs84.4%

Claude Sonnet 5: 0WGemini 3.6 Pro: 5W

Claude Sonnet 5 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

118 tok/svs102 tok/s

Time to first token

175 msvs205 ms

Claude Sonnet 5: 2WGemini 3.6 Pro: 0W

Gemini 3.6 Pro (3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$10/1Mvs$5/1M

Input price

$2/1Mvs$1.25/1M

Context window

1Mvs2M

Claude Sonnet 5: 0WGemini 3.6 Pro: 3W

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 AdvantageGemini 3.6 Pro 5/6

Preference Elo

Gemini 3.6 Pro

14 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

Claude Sonnet 5

16 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

Gemini 3.6 Pro

$5.00/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—

Elo

High is better

1,556

EloHigh is better

1,570+1%

Code Elo

High is better

1,562

Code EloHigh is better

1,566

LiveBench

High is better

70.4%

LiveBenchHigh is better

71.8%+2%

SWE-bench

High is better

73.8%

SWE-benchHigh is better

74.6%+1%

GPQA

High is better

82.8%

GPQAHigh is better

84.4%+2%

TTFT

Low is better

+17%175 ms

TTFTLow is better

205 ms

Speed

High is better

+16%118 tok/s

SpeedHigh is better

102 tok/s

In $

Low is better

$2/1M

In $Low is better

$1.25/1M+60%

Out $

Low is better

$10/1M

Out $Low is better

$5/1M+100%

Context

High is better

ContextHigh is better

2M+100%

Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

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

Save up to 46% with Gemini 3.6 Pro

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 5$220.00 / mo

In: $70.00Out: $150.00

Gemini 3.6 Pro$118.75 / mo

In: $43.75Out: $75.00

Estimated Cost Delta

Gemini 3.6 Pro is estimated to save $101.25/month ($1,215/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

1
Gemini 3.6 Pro:Pick Gemini 3.6 Pro when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
2
Claude Sonnet 5:Pick Claude Sonnet 5 when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.
3
Gemini 3.6 Pro:Pick Gemini 3.6 Pro for million-token RAG or long-document jobs.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGemini 3.6 Pro

Higher SWE-bench (74.6%).

High-volume chatGemini 3.6 Pro

Lower output list price ($5/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIClaude Sonnet 5

Lower TTFT (175 ms).

Long-document RAGGemini 3.6 Pro

Larger window (2M).

Screenshots / visionGemini 3.6 Pro

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Gemini 3.6 Pro).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Higher SWE-bench (74.6%).
High-volume chat	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Lower output list price ($5/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Claude Sonnet 5	Lower TTFT (175 ms).
Long-document RAG	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Larger window (2M).
Screenshots / vision	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Gemini 3.6 Pro).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news

compareAug 13, 2026

Gemini Flash vs Pro: when Flash is the whole product

3.7 Flash vs 3.6 Pro is the current Google volume-versus-upgrade pair.

compareAug 10, 2026

Sonnet vs Opus in 2026: same family, different invoice

Usually Sonnet 5 vs Opus 5. Coding delta versus output $/1M. The workhorse question.

priceAug 10, 2026

Claude Sonnet 5 at $2/$10: the 2026 Anthropic workhorse

Aug 10 2026 made the $2/$10 list permanent. Sonnet is the default Claude unless the repo is actually on fire.

compareJul 24, 2026

Claude vs Gemini: coding, Elo, and output price — not a brand mashup

Top Anthropic vs top Google. Usually Opus 5 vs 3.6 Pro. Two different invoices.

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LIVE

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 5

Elo 1,556

LiveBench70.4%

SWE-bench73.8%

Speed118 tok/s

Output cost$10/1M

Google

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Elo 1,570

LiveBench71.8%

SWE-bench74.6%

Speed102 tok/s

Output cost$5/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?: Gemini 3.6 Pro has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,570). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?: Gemini 3.6 Pro leads SWE-bench at 74.6% vs 73.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: Gemini 3.6 Pro output tokens are $5/1M versus $10/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?: Claude Sonnet 5 has the lower time-to-first-token (175 ms vs 205 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?: Gemini 3.6 Pro accepts 2M tokens versus 1M.
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 5 and Gemini 3.6 Pro Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Claude Sonnet 5 matchups →|All Gemini 3.6 Pro matchups →

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 (previous sonnet)Gemini 3.6 Pro vs Gemini 3 Pro (previous gemini-pro)Gemini 3 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 5 Claude Opus 4.5 vs Gemini 3.6 Pro Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemini 3.6 Pro Gemini 3.7 Flash vs Claude Sonnet 5

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.6 Pro benchmark

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Claude Sonnet 5 (2)vsGemini 3.6 Pro (8)

Claude Sonnet 5: 2W (20%)Overall: Gemini 3.6 ProGemini 3.6 Pro: 8W (80%)

← Claude Sonnet 5Gemini 3.6 Pro →

Gemini 3.6 Pro (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Preference Elo

1,556vs1,570

Coding Elo

1,562vs1,566

SWE-bench

73.8%vs74.6%

LiveBench

70.4%vs71.8%

GPQA Diamond

82.8%vs84.4%

Claude Sonnet 5: 0WGemini 3.6 Pro: 5W

Claude Sonnet 5 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

118 tok/svs102 tok/s

Time to first token

175 msvs205 ms

Claude Sonnet 5: 2WGemini 3.6 Pro: 0W

Gemini 3.6 Pro (3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$10/1Mvs$5/1M

Input price

$2/1Mvs$1.25/1M

Context window

1Mvs2M

Claude Sonnet 5: 0WGemini 3.6 Pro: 3W

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGemini 3.6 Pro

Higher SWE-bench (74.6%).

High-volume chatGemini 3.6 Pro

Lower output list price ($5/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIClaude Sonnet 5

Lower TTFT (175 ms).

Long-document RAGGemini 3.6 Pro

Larger window (2M).

Screenshots / visionGemini 3.6 Pro

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Gemini 3.6 Pro).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Higher SWE-bench (74.6%).
High-volume chat	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Lower output list price ($5/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Claude Sonnet 5	Lower TTFT (175 ms).
Long-document RAG	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Larger window (2M).
Screenshots / vision	Gemini 3.6 Pro	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Gemini 3.6 Pro).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?

Gemini 3.6 Pro has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,570). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.

Which is better at coding, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?

Gemini 3.6 Pro leads SWE-bench at 74.6% vs 73.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

Gemini 3.6 Pro output tokens are $5/1M versus $10/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Pro?

Claude Sonnet 5 has the lower time-to-first-token (175 ms vs 205 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.

Which has the larger context window?

Gemini 3.6 Pro accepts 2M tokens versus 1M.

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 5 and Gemini 3.6 Pro 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

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Claude Sonnet 5

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Gemini Flash vs Pro: when Flash is the whole product

Sonnet vs Opus in 2026: same family, different invoice

Claude Sonnet 5 at $2/$10: the 2026 Anthropic workhorse

Claude vs Gemini: coding, Elo, and output price — not a brand mashup

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

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CompareLLM Matrix

Claude Sonnet 5

Gemini 3.6 Pro

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

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Claude Sonnet 5

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Gemini Flash vs Pro: when Flash is the whole product

Sonnet vs Opus in 2026: same family, different invoice

Claude Sonnet 5 at $2/$10: the 2026 Anthropic workhorse

Claude vs Gemini: coding, Elo, and output price — not a brand mashup

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Claude Sonnet 5

Gemini 3.6 Pro

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons