reasoning
Claude Sonnet 4 6 vs O4 Mini
Side-by-side pricing, context window, features, and per-use-case verdict. Data sourced from LiteLLM, updated regularly.
Specifications
| Feature | Claude Sonnet 4 6 | O4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | anthropic | openai |
| Model ID | claude-sonnet-4-6 | o4-mini |
| Input / 1M tokens | $3.00 | $1.10 (63% cheaper) |
| Output / 1M tokens | $15.00 | $4.40 (71% cheaper) |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.30 | $0.28 |
| Context window | 1000kk tokens | 200kk tokens |
| Max output | 64kk tokens | 100kk tokens |
| Vision | ✅ | ✅ |
| Function calling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prompt caching | ✅ | ✅ |
| Web search | ⬜ | ✅ |
| JSON schema | ✅ | ✅ |
Monthly cost comparison
No cache discount applied — pure token costs at three usage scales.
| Scale | Claude Sonnet 4 6 | O4 Mini | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 1M in / 0.2M out | $6.00 | $1.98 | O4 Mini saves 67% |
| Medium 10M in / 2M out | $60.00 | $19.80 | O4 Mini saves 67% |
| Large 100M in / 20M out | $600 | $198 | O4 Mini saves 67% |
Category winners
Cheapest input
O4 Mini
$1.10/M
· 63% less than the other
Cheapest output
O4 Mini
$4.40/M
· 71% less than the other
Larger context
Claude Sonnet 4 6
1000kk tokens · 400% larger window
More features
O4 Mini
5 / 5 capabilities
Better for…
High-volume RAG & repeated context
$0.28/M cached input — prompt caching makes repeated context retrieval significantly cheaper
O4 Mini
Short interactions & high-throughput APIs
$4.40/M output — 71% cheaper on output at scale
O4 Mini
Long-document processing & large codebases
1000k context window vs 200k — 400% larger context
Claude Sonnet 4 6
Agentic workflows & tool use
Supports 5 of 5 tracked capabilities (vision, function calling, caching, web search, JSON schema)
O4 Mini
Deep-dive on each model
Pricing data sourced from LiteLLM and refreshed regularly. Always verify with each provider's official pricing page before making business decisions.