Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs o4 Mini
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
o4 Mini by OpenAI wins on 8 of 14 benchmarks against Claude Sonnet 4.6 by Anthropic, which leads on 5. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from the AI Value Index.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 1395 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to o4 Mini's 1350, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 84.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to o4 Mini's 80.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 91.0% on HumanEval+ compared to o4 Mini's 88.0%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to o4 Mini's 68.1%, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 65.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to o4 Mini's 58.0%.
Math: In math, o4 Mini scores 93.0% on MATH compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 88.0%, while o4 Mini scores 97.5% on GSM8K compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 96.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, o4 Mini scores 81.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 74.1%, while o4 Mini scores 55.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 48.0%.
Context: In context, both score 200K on Context Length.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while o4 Mini costs $1.1/1M input and $4.4/1M output. o4 Mini is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 generates output at 57 tok/s compared to o4 Mini's 120 tok/s, and the time to first token is 790 ms for Claude Sonnet 4.6 versus 300 ms for o4 Mini. o4 Mini delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence, Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge. For those who value math and affordability and speed, o4 Mini is the stronger choice.
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Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs o4 Mini — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or o4 Mini?
o4 Mini wins on more benchmarks overall (8 vs 5). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.6 compare to o4 Mini for coding?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is better for coding, scoring 79.6% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 68.1%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than o4 Mini?
Yes, o4 Mini is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. o4 Mini costs $1.1/1M input and $4.4/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or o4 Mini?
o4 Mini is faster, generating output at 120 tok/s compared to 57 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs o4 Mini comparison cover?
This comparison covers 14 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, SWE-bench Verified, GPQA Diamond, Output Speed, Time to First Token, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.