Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
Anthropic vs Google · Prices checked 12 August 2026
On price Gemini 3.6 Flash edges it, $3.30 per million tokens blended versus $4.40, about 25 per cent less. A single 100K-input, 10K-output job costs $0.225 on Gemini 3.6 Flash against $0.300 on Claude Sonnet 5.
Gemini 3.6 Flash reads more in one request: 1,050,000 tokens of context against 1,000,000. Claude Sonnet 5 was released Jun 2026; Gemini 3.6 Flash Jul 2026.
Pricing and capacity
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $2.00 | $1.50 | 25% |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10.00 | $7.50 | 25% |
| Blended · 70/30calculated | $4.40 | $3.30 | 25% |
| Blended · 50/50calculated | $6.00 | $4.50 | 25% |
| Blended · 80/20calculated | $3.60 | $2.70 | 25% |
| Blended · 20/80calculated | $8.40 | $6.30 | 25% |
| Job cost · 100K + 10Kcalculated | $0.300 | $0.225 | 25% |
| Job cost · 1M + 100Kcalculated | $3.00 | $2.25 | 25% |
| Context window | 1,000,000 | 1,050,000 | 5% |
Input and output rates are as published by each provider. Blended and job-cost rows are calculated comparison metrics, not published prices — how they are derived.
Benchmarks
These two models do not currently report scores on any of the same benchmark suites, so there is no like-for-like capability comparison to show. Rather than pad the page with one-sided numbers, the benchmark leaderboards list every score we do hold.
What each model is for
Claude Sonnet 5
Anthropic · Balanced
The most agentic Sonnet Anthropic has shipped: it plans, drives tools like browsers and terminals, and runs autonomously at a level that previously needed a larger model, with performance close to Opus 4.8 at a fraction of the price. Launch pricing is $2/$10 per MTok through 31 August 2026, after which it moves to $3/$15.
- Autonomous multi-step agent runs
- Browser and terminal tool use
- Near-Opus performance at Sonnet pricing
- 1M-token context
Gemini 3.6 Flash
Google · Balanced
Google's current workhorse model, released July 2026 as the practical successor to 3.5 Flash rather than the long-delayed 3.5 Pro. It improves on coding, knowledge work and multimodal handling while reducing token usage by up to 17%, which makes it cheaper to run than its predecessor on the same task even before the headline rate is compared.
- Up to 17% fewer tokens per task than 3.5 Flash
- Coding and knowledge work
- Multimodal input including audio and video
- 1M-token context
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
On price Gemini 3.6 Flash edges it, $3.30 per million tokens blended versus $4.40, about 25 per cent less. A single 100K-input, 10K-output job costs $0.225 on Gemini 3.6 Flash against $0.300 on Claude Sonnet 5. Blended cost weights input at 70% and output at 30%; price your own token split for an exact answer, since the cheaper model on a blended basis is not always cheaper for your workload.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash reads more in one request: 1,050,000 tokens of context against 1,000,000. The context window caps everything in a single request: prompt, retrieved documents, conversation history and the model’s own output all share it.
Can I compare Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 3.6 Flash on my own numbers?
Yes. Open both in the side-by-side comparison tool to see every field at once, or use the token calculator to price your actual prompt and monthly request volume against each model. Both are free and need no sign-up.
Price it for your own workload
Related matchups
Terms used on this page
Prices and scores are recomputed on every deploy from the catalogue. Prices checked 12 August 2026.