GPT-6 Astra wins on coding (99 vs 98). Claude Sonnet 5 wins on price ($2 vs $10/1M input). For most workflows, GPT-6 Astra is the stronger default — openai's frontier answer to fable 5.1 — computer-use and agentic-coding leader at $10/$50.
Last verified Sep 4, 2026/Model data modified Sep 4, 2026
Rankings refresh dailyScored on 6 criteriaNo paid rankings
OpenAIPremium
Input cost
$10.00/1M
Context
1.1M tokens
Speed
Deliberate
Clear recommendation block
The safest GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5 default, the cheaper option worth trying first, and the specialist pick — before you read the detail below.
GPT-6 Astra is the strongest answer here for GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5 — pick it when quality of output matters more than the $10.00/1M/1M input you pay for it.
OpenAIPremium
Best for
Computer and browser use, long-horizon agentic coding, and frontier math and science work
Claude Sonnet 5 is the fastest of these for GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5 — worth it when latency is what the reader notices, not the last few points of reasoning depth.
AnthropicPremium
Best for
High-volume agentic workloads and production apps at mid-tier pricing
Price
$2.00/1M
Context
1M tokens
Why this page recommends it
GPT-6 Astra leads on coding with a score of 99 vs 98 for Claude Sonnet 5.
GPT-6 Astra has the larger context window: 1.05M vs 1M for Claude Sonnet 5.
Claude Sonnet 5 is cheaper at $2/1M input tokens vs $10/1M for GPT-6 Astra.
Decision notes
GPT-6 Astra is the safer default: it is built for computer and browser use, long-horizon agentic coding, and frontier math and science work, which covers most of what people bring to this comparison.
Choose Claude Sonnet 5 when your work is mostly high-volume agentic workloads and production apps at mid-tier pricing — that is the workload it was tuned for.
Claude Sonnet 5 is the more cost-efficient option at $2/1M input — GPT-6 Astra costs 5x more per input token, so the gap is worth taking seriously wherever token volume rather than peak quality drives the bill.
Interactive decision lab
Test the recommendation against your priority
Switch the scoring lens to see whether the GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5 answer changes when cost, speed, or long-document depth leads the decision.
#1GPT-6 Astra91 pts
#2Claude Sonnet 591 pts
Quality first
GPT-6 Astra
OpenAI / Premium / Sep 4, 2026
91
OpenAI's frontier answer to Fable 5.1 — computer-use and agentic-coding leader at $10/$50.
Ranks models by the broadest mix of coding, writing, research, and long-context usefulness.
You are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-5.6 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak.
Recommended comparisons
Where the GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5 recommendation shifts once you weigh price or latency differently.
Our pick for GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5. It scores 100/100 on the coding axis we weight this page by, and nothing else in this shortlist matches it on output quality.
OpenAI's September 3, 2026 frontier release — the first GPT-6 model and OpenAI's answer to Claude Fable 5.1 two days earlier. State of the art on computer use (OSWorld 2.0 72.6% in ~47% less time than GPT-5.6 Sol), agentic coding (Terminal-Bench 4.0 57.9%), and frontier math (FrontierMath Tier 4 97.6%). $10/$50 per 1M tokens, 1.05M context, 128K output, knowledge cutoff April 30, 2026.
Input
$10.00/1M
Output
$50.00/1M
Context
1.1M tokens
Speed
Deliberate
What people actually use it for
Computer-use agents that fill forms, update CRMs, run QA in a browser — 72.6% on OSWorld 2.0 at ~40 minutes per task vs Sol's 75
Agentic coding in Codex with cross-context notes — 57.9% Terminal-Bench 4.0, ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (55.8%)
Frontier math and science — 97.6% FrontierMath Tier 4 and 64.6% Terminal-Bench Science, both well clear of every rival OpenAI tested
Where it wins
OSWorld 2.0 72.6% vs 65.7% for GPT-5.6 Sol, in roughly 47% less time per task — the new computer-use ceiling
Terminal-Bench 4.0 57.9% — ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (55.8%), Opus 5 (52.3%) and GPT-5.6 Sol (37.3%)
FrontierMath Tier 4 (v2) 97.6% vs Fable 5.1's 87.8%; Terminal-Bench Science 64.6% vs 52.6%; GPQA Diamond 96.0%
1.05M context with 96.3% on OpenAI MRCR 8-needle at 512K–1M (Sol: 73.8%) and 128K max output
OpenAI's lowest misaligned-outcome rates to date: 2.4% on its computer-use safety benchmark vs 22.0% for Sol, 0% scope-creep on impossible cyber tasks vs 48%
Where it falls down
$10/$50 per 1M — five times GPT-5.6 Sol's $2/$10 and the same premium as Claude Fable 5.1; Fast mode doubles it again
Trails Claude Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam with tools (57.2% vs 65.0%) and on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (61.2 vs 65.7)
OpenAI published no SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure at launch, so it does not appear on our SWE-bench leaderboard
Rolling out over days, not instantly: Enterprise access is off by default, advanced cyber tasks are refused outside OpenAI Daybreak, and the safety layer can pause or stop legitimate agent runs
OpenAI's own system card finds its written reasoning harder to monitor than Sol's
Skip it if
You are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-5.6 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak.
Our verdict
The new computer-use and agentic-coding ceiling, and OpenAI's first model priced like a Mythos-class Claude. Astra beats Claude Fable 5.1 on Terminal-Bench 4.0 (57.9% vs 55.8%), Terminal-Bench Science (64.6% vs 52.6%) and FrontierMath Tier 4 (97.6% vs 87.8%), and it is the only model with a credible OSWorld 2.0 result above 70%. It loses to Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam and on Artificial Analysis's index, costs five times GPT-5.6 Sol, and ships without a SWE-bench number. If your work is computer use, browser agents or math, it is the pick; for everyday coding at scale, Sol at $2/$10 remains the value default.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the GPT-6 Astra page.
The cost-conscious pick for GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5, about 80% less per token than GPT-6 Astra than the top choice while holding 98/100 on coding.
Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet yet — a fast 1M-context workhorse that narrows the gap to Opus-class quality at $3/$15, and the new default model on claude.ai.
Input
$2.00/1M
Output
$10.00/1M
Context
1M tokens
Speed
Fast
What people actually use it for
Production agent loops that plan, call tools, verify output, and finish multi-step tasks
High-volume coding assistance at one-fifth of Opus 5's price
Computer-use automation — 78.5% on OSWorld-Verified
Where it wins
72.7% on SWE-bench Verified (vs Sonnet 4.6's 62.3% on the same eval) with launch promo pricing of $2/$10 through August 31, 2026
78.5% OSWorld-Verified computer use and 46.8% on Humanity's Last Exam with tools
1M-token context in the fast Sonnet latency class — Opus-adjacent quality without Opus latency
Where it falls down
Clearly behind Opus 5 and Fable 5 on the hardest reasoning and long-horizon agent tasks
Updated tokenizer produces ~1.0–1.35x more tokens for the same text, so effective cost runs above sticker price
Skip it if
You need the absolute top coding ceiling — Opus 5 leads SWE-bench Verified by over 20 points.
Our verdict
The best price-to-capability pick in the Claude lineup. Sonnet 5 replaces Sonnet 4.6 as the production default: markedly better agentic coding and computer use at the same standard price, with a $2/$10 promo through August 2026.
UseRightAI recommendations are based on practical decision factors people actually feel in day-to-day use.
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FAQ
Is GPT-6 Astra better than Claude Sonnet 5?
GPT-6 Astra wins on more of the categories we score — coding, research, long context — so it is the better default of the two. Claude Sonnet 5 is the better pick when your work is mostly high-volume agentic workloads and production apps at mid-tier pricing. Neither is universally "better": GPT-6 Astra is aimed at computer and browser use and long-horizon agentic coding, Claude Sonnet 5 at high-volume agentic workloads and production apps at mid-tier pricing.
Which is cheaper — GPT-6 Astra or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5 is cheaper at $2/1M input and $10/1M output. GPT-6 Astra costs $10/1M input and $50/1M output.
Which has a larger context window — GPT-6 Astra or Claude Sonnet 5?
GPT-6 Astra has the larger context window at 1.05M tokens vs Claude Sonnet 5's 1M. For large document analysis, GPT-6 Astra is the stronger pick.
Is GPT-6 Astra or Claude Sonnet 5 better for coding?
GPT-6 Astra is better for coding with a score of 99 vs Claude Sonnet 5's 98 (out of 100). Claude Opus 5.5 is the overall coding leader in this directory at 100/100.
Which is faster — GPT-6 Astra or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5 is faster with a fast speed rating (score: 4) vs GPT-6 Astra's deliberate rating (score: 2). Speed matters most for interactive and high-throughput work; for batch jobs the GPT-6 Astra latency penalty is usually invisible.
What are the downsides of GPT-6 Astra?
$10/$50 per 1M — two and a half times GPT-5.6 Sol's $4/$20 promotional rate, five times GPT-6.1 Sol's $2/$10, and the same premium as Claude Fable 5.1; Fast mode doubles it again. Trails Claude Fable 5.1 on Humanity's Last Exam with tools (57.2% vs 65.0%) and on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (61.2 vs 65.7). OpenAI published no SWE-bench Verified or SWE-bench Pro figure at launch, so it does not appear on our SWE-bench leaderboard. Avoid it if you are cost-sensitive or latency-bound — GPT-6.1 Sol is a fifth of the price — or you need it today in an Enterprise workspace, where it is off by default, or for offensive-security work, which it refuses outside OpenAI Daybreak. That is the main case for looking at Claude Sonnet 5 instead.
What are the downsides of Claude Sonnet 5?
Clearly behind Opus 5 and Fable 5 on the hardest reasoning and long-horizon agent tasks. Updated tokenizer produces ~1.0–1.35x more tokens for the same text, so effective cost runs above sticker price. Avoid it if you need the absolute top coding ceiling — Opus 5 leads SWE-bench Verified by over 20 points. Against GPT-6 Astra specifically, the gap shows up most on coding (99 vs 98).
What does a month of real work cost on GPT-6 Astra vs Claude Sonnet 5?
Take a moderate workload of 10M input and 2M output tokens a month. GPT-6 Astra runs $200.00 (at $10/1M in and $50/1M out); Claude Sonnet 5 runs $40.00 (at $2/1M in and $10/1M out). That is a $160.00/month difference — Claude Sonnet 5 is the cheaper of the two at this volume, and the gap scales linearly as you send more. Output tokens dominate the bill on both, so prompt length matters far less than response length.
Can I use GPT-6 Astra and Claude Sonnet 5 together?
Yes, and for most teams that beats picking one. A common split is GPT-6 Astra for computer and browser use and long-horizon agentic coding, with Claude Sonnet 5 handling high-volume agentic workloads and production apps at mid-tier pricing. Routing high-volume, low-stakes calls to Claude Sonnet 5 at $2/1M and reserving GPT-6 Astra for the hard cases is usually the cheapest arrangement that does not cost you quality.