Gemini 4 Carbon vs Claude Opus 5.5
Gemini 4 Carbon is 2.0x cheaper than Claude Opus 5.5 on our example workload, at list prices.
Side by side
| Measure | Gemini 4 Carbon | Claude Opus 5.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2.00 current (through November 30, 2026; $4.00 from December 1, 2026) | $4.00 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10.00 current (through November 30, 2026; $20.00 from December 1, 2026) | $20.00 |
| Output price ÷ input price | 5.0x | 5.0x |
| Blended / 1M (3:1) | $4.00 | $8.00 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| ≈ English words that fit | 750,000 | 750,000 |
| 1,000 calls (2000+500 tok) | $9.00 | $18.00 |
| AA Intelligence Index | 60 | 59 |
| LMArena Text | 1526 (high, preliminary) | 1506 (high) |
| Blended $ per AA index point | $0.067 | $0.136 |
List prices from official pages (Google, Anthropic), verified 2026-11-11. Benchmarks from public leaderboards (Artificial Analysis, LMArena), not run by us. Word counts use the rough 0.75 words per token rule for English. "$ per index point" is our own arithmetic (blended price ÷ index score), a rough value-for-money signal, not a benchmark.
What real workloads cost
Four example request shapes, priced at list rates with no caching or batch discounts. Monthly figures assume 100,000 requests.
| Workload | Gemini 4 Carbon | Claude Opus 5.5 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support chat reply a short system prompt, recent chat history and a reply | $0.00900 each $900.00 / mo | $0.0180 each $1,800.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| RAG answer a question plus about 20K tokens of retrieved documents, and a cited answer | $0.0480 each $4,800.00 / mo | $0.0960 each $9,600.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| 10-step agent task an agent loop of 10 model calls, each re-reading about 8K tokens of context and emitting a 400-token tool call | $0.2000 each $20,000.00 / mo | $0.4000 each $40,000.00 / mo | 2.0x |
| Long-report summary one 200K-token document summarized into about 2K tokens | $0.4200 each $42,000.00 / mo | $0.8400 each $84,000.00 / mo | 2.0x |
When to pick each
- Pick Gemini 4 Carbon when cost is the main constraint: at list prices it is 2.0x cheaper than Claude Opus 5.5 on a typical 2,000-in / 500-out call ($9.00 vs $18.00 per 1,000 calls).
- Pick Gemini 4 Carbon when answer quality matters more than price: it scores 60 vs 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, and is also the cheaper model here, so it wins on both counts.
- They come from different providers (Google and Anthropic), so switching means a second API key, SDK and billing account, and tool-calling formats differ. Our schema converter outputs both formats from one JSON Schema.
Context and pricing limits
- Gemini 4 Carbon: 1M tokens of context. Claude Opus 5.5: 1M. Same size.
- Gemini 4 Carbon: Standard list price $2/$10 through Nov 30, 2026; $4/$20 from Dec 1, 2026. The prices above are this tier; check the official pricing page before committing.
- Cached input, batch and off-peak discounts can cut real bills a lot and differ by provider; they are not included here.
FAQ
Is Gemini 4 Carbon cheaper than Claude Opus 5.5?
Yes, on our 2000-in / 500-out example call it costs $0.00900 vs $0.0180, 2.0x less.
Which has the larger context window?
Neither: both accept 1M tokens.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemini 4 Carbon scores 60 vs 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. On LMArena Text, Gemini 4 Carbon is 1526 (high, preliminary) and Claude Opus 5.5 is 1506 (high). Benchmarks are averages; test both on your own prompts.
Run your own numbers in the token cost estimator · Gemini 4 Carbon pricing · Claude Opus 5.5 pricing · All comparisons