Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6: API cost comparison
For a typical chatbot (1,500 input + 400 output tokens, 100,000 requests a month), Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 24% cheaper: $829 vs $1,095 for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Paste your own prompt below to compare the exact cost of your workload.
0 characters0 words0 tokens (GPT o200k)
| Model | Per month |
|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
≈ = estimated token count: only OpenAI publishes its tokenizer. Claude counts use Anthropic’s published ratios; use the count_tokens API for an exact number.
Price per million tokens
USD, standard tier. Prices checked on October 28, 2026.
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $2 | $3 |
| Output | $10 | $15 |
| Cached input | $0.1 | $0.3 |
| Cache write (5 min) | $2.5 | $3.75 |
| Long prompts | Same price at any length | Same price at any length |
| Batch API | 50% off | 50% off |
| Provider | Anthropic (Claude) | Anthropic (Claude) |
Monthly cost for common workloads
| Workload | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Chatbot 1,500 input + 400 output tokens, 100,000 requests a month | $829 | $1,095 |
| Document Q&A (RAG) 8,000 input + 500 output tokens, half the input cached, 20,000 requests a month | $340 | $440 |
| Long-document summary 150,000 input + 2,000 output tokens, 1,000 requests a month | $449 | $525 |
| Bulk classification (Batch API) 500 input + 20 output tokens, 1 million requests a month, Batch API where available | $815 | $975 |
Token counts are converted per model: the same text becomes a different number of tokens on each provider (see below). The cheaper option in each row is highlighted.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Per million tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 / $10 (input / output) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3 / $15. For a typical chatbot workload (1,500 input + 400 output tokens, 100,000 requests a month), Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 24% cheaper: $829 vs $1,095 for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Token counts differ between providers, so compare the cost of the same prompt rather than the price per token.
How much do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 cost per million tokens?
Claude Sonnet 5.5: $2 / $10 for input / output, $0.1 for cached input. Claude Sonnet 4.6: $3 / $15, $0.3 for cached input. Prices in US dollars, standard tier, checked on October 28, 2026.
Do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 count tokens the same way?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 uses Anthropic's newer tokenizer, which produces about 30% more tokens than earlier Claude models. We estimate about 1.43× the GPT o200k count for the same text. Claude Sonnet 4.6 uses Anthropic's earlier tokenizer. We estimate about 1.10× the GPT o200k count for the same text.
Do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 have a Batch API discount?
Both do: Claude Sonnet 5.5 gets 50% off and Claude Sonnet 4.6 50% off for requests sent through the Batch API, which may take up to 24 hours.
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