Anthropic vs OpenAI
A comparison of Anthropic and OpenAI built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Anthropic if
- Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
- Pick OpenAI if
- Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.
7 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- Anthropic: Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium.
- OpenAI: Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026.
- Input price, top model
- Anthropic: $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2.
- OpenAI: $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2.
- Output price, top model
- Anthropic: $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10.
- OpenAI: $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context.
- Input price, cheapest model
- Anthropic: $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5.
- OpenAI: $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20.
- Context window
- Anthropic: 1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates.
- OpenAI: 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input.
- Max output tokens
- Anthropic: 128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header.
- OpenAI: 128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra.
- Batch discount
- Anthropic: 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing.
- OpenAI: 50% off input and output through the Batch API: gpt-6-astra falls from $10/$50 to $5/$25 at short context.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Anthropic 0
OpenAI 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Anthropic | OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium. | Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026. |
| Inference | ||
| Input price, top model | $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2. | $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2. |
| Output price, top model | $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10. | $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5. | $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20. |
| Context window | 1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates. | 1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input. |
| Max output tokens | 128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header. | 128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |
| Batch discount | 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing. | 50% off input and output through the Batch API: gpt-6-astra falls from $10/$50 to $5/$25 at short context. |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- Anthropic
- Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium.
- OpenAI
- Per million tokens, with a second rate above the short-context threshold — long-context input and output cost roughly double. Batch, Flex, Fast and standard tiers are priced separately, and regional processing adds a 10% uplift on models released from March 2026.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“This page provides detailed pricing information for Anthropic's models and features. All prices are in USD. [...] These multipliers stack with other pricing modifiers, including the Batch API discount and data residency. [...] specifying US-only inference through the inference_geo parameter incurs a 1.1x multiplier on all token pricing categories”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“Prices per 1M tokens. [...] Regional processing (data residency) endpoints are charged a 10% uplift for models released on or after March 5, 2026 [...] Priority processing was renamed Fast mode on July 30, 2026.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, top model
- Anthropic
- $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2.
- OpenAI
- $10 per million input tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, rising to $20 above the short-context threshold. gpt-5.6-sol is $4 and gpt-5.6-terra $2.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 / MTok | $12.50 / MTok | $20 / MTok | $0.25 / MTok | $50 / MTok [...] Claude Opus 5 | $5 / MTok [...] Claude Sonnet 5 | $2 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 | [...] | gpt-5.6-sol | $4.00 [...] | gpt-5.6-terra | $2.00”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- Anthropic
- $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10.
- OpenAI
- $50 per million output tokens for gpt-6-astra at short context, $75 at long context.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 / MTok | [...] | $50 / MTok [...] Claude Opus 5 | [...] $25 / MTok [...] Claude Sonnet 5 | [...] $10 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-6-astra | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $50.00 | $20.00 | $2.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, cheapest model
- Anthropic
- $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5.
- OpenAI
- $0.20 per million input tokens for gpt-5.6-luna at short context, with output at $1.20.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 / MTok | $1.25 / MTok | $2 / MTok | $0.10 / MTok | $5 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“| gpt-5.6-luna | $0.20 | $0.02 | $0.25 | $1.20 | $0.40 | $0.04 | $0.50 | $1.80 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Context window
1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates.
1,050,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra, of which at most 922,000 may be input.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models overview — Claude Docs ↗
“Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens | 1M tokens | 200K tokens”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- gpt-6-astra — OpenAI API docs ↗
“- 1,050,000 context window - Maximum input tokens: 922,000”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
Max output tokens
128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header.
128,000 tokens on gpt-6-astra.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models overview — Claude Docs ↗
“Max output | 128K tokens | 128K tokens | 128K tokens | 64K tokens [...] On the Message Batches API, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5 [...] support up to 300k output tokens with the output-300k-2026-03-24 beta header.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- gpt-6-astra — OpenAI API docs ↗
“- 128,000 max output tokens”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
Batch discount
- Anthropic
- 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing.
- OpenAI
- 50% off input and output through the Batch API: gpt-6-astra falls from $10/$50 to $5/$25 at short context.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“The Batch API allows asynchronous processing of large volumes of requests with a 50% discount on both input and output tokens.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — OpenAI API docs ↗
“Batch pricing data | Model | Short context input [...] | gpt-6-astra | $5.00 | $0.50 | $6.25 | $25.00 | $10.00 | $1.00 | $12.50 | $37.50 |”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Which should you choose?
Choose Anthropic if…
Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose OpenAI if…
Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Anthropic: Its cheapest model is $1 per million input tokens, several times what the budget tiers at Google, OpenAI and DeepSeek charge, so high-volume simple work is priced against you.
- OpenAI: Long prompts cross into the long-context rate and roughly double the bill, which is a cliff the flat-rate vendors do not have.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose Anthropic or OpenAI?
Pick Anthropic if Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
Pick OpenAI if Work that fits inside the short-context rate, where the cheapest tier is $0.20 per million input tokens and the batch tier halves everything above it.