Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra — Price, Context, and Capability Compared
Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra: which should I use?
Claude Sonnet 5 costs 1.3× more per blended million tokens than GPT-5.6 Terra. GPT-5.6 Terra has the larger context window (1,000,000 tokens). Default to GPT-5.6 Terra unless you specifically need Claude Sonnet 5's edge.
Spec comparison
| Claude Sonnet 5 | GPT-5.6 Terra | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (input) | $3.00/M | $2.00/M ✓ |
| Price (output) | $15.00/M | $12.00/M ✓ |
| Blended price | $6.00/M | $4.50/M ✓ |
| Context window | 500,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens ✓ |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens ✓ |
| Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Reasoning mode | Yes | Yes |
| Released | 2026-08 | 2026-06 |
| Speed | Not measured | 78 t/s |
Cost at scale (3:1 blended)
| Tokens / month | Claude Sonnet 5 | GPT-5.6 Terra | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000,000 | $6.00 | $4.50 | $1.50 (1.3×) |
| 10,000,000 | $60.00 | $45.00 | $15.00 (1.3×) |
| 100,000,000 | $600.00 | $450.00 | $150.00 (1.3×) |
Choose Claude Sonnet 5 if…
- ✓Frontier intelligence at Sonnet economics
- ✓Fast interactive coding performance
- ✓Reliable structured output and extended thinking
- ✓Production workloads that need near-Opus quality with better speed and cost.
Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…
- ✓Balanced cost-to-intelligence ratio
- ✓Reasoning mode available on demand
- ✓Same 1M context as Sol
- ✓Everyday production workloads that need strong quality without Sol-tier pricing.
Run this exact matchup right now
Send the same prompt to Claude Sonnet 5 and GPT-5.6 Terra side by side and see the outputs yourself.
Try Claude Sonnet 5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra FreeFAQ
Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper than GPT-5.6 Terra?
GPT-5.6 Terra is cheaper, at $4.50 per million blended tokens vs $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.
Which has the bigger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or GPT-5.6 Terra?
GPT-5.6 Terra has the larger context window: 1,000,000 tokens vs 500,000.
Can Claude Sonnet 5 replace GPT-5.6 Terra for coding?
Both are viable for coding. Frontier intelligence at Sonnet economics (Claude Sonnet 5) vs Balanced cost-to-intelligence ratio (GPT-5.6 Terra) — pick based on which strength matters more for your workload.
Neither of these? See Claude Sonnet 5 alternatives or GPT-5.6 Terra alternatives.
Related
Pricing verified 2026-07-30. Specs verified 2026-08-08.