Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 4 Argon
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (86 vs 85). Gemini 4 Argon is about 2.0× cheaper per blended million tokens ($1.99 vs $4, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads 56 to 53.
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 · Anthropic | Gemini 4 Argon · Google | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #1 | #3 |
| Score (0–100) | 86 | 85 |
| Tier | Workhorse | Frontier |
| Price per 1M tokens | $2 in · $10 out | $1.99 blended (estimate) |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Open weights | No | No |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 56 | 53 |
| Arena text score | — | 1525 |
| Best for | Production coding assistants, High-volume agents, Default model for most teams | Chat and assistant products, Google Cloud shops, Price-sensitive frontier work |
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 if…
- you need production coding assistants
- you need high-volume agents
- you need default model for most teams
The value pick of the table: second on the index at a fifth of the Opus price, and the fastest of the top five.
Choose Gemini 4 Argon if…
- you need chat and assistant products
- you need google cloud shops
- you need price-sensitive frontier work
Wins the popularity contest: first on Arena, mid-pack on the index, and priced like a workhorse.
Caveats: Google's public pricing page did not list Argon when read; the blended figure is Artificial Analysis' estimate.
What practitioners say
Claude Sonnet 5.5: Less discussed than its siblings because it just works; the October cache-read price cut to $0.10 per million was the news.
Gemini 4 Argon: The announcement thread ran to 1,190 comments; the independent analysis thread was smaller and more measured.
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 4 Argon are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (86 vs 85). Gemini 4 Argon is about 2.0× cheaper per blended million tokens ($1.99 vs $4, one figure an Artificial Analysis estimate). On Artificial Analysis' independent Intelligence Index, Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads 56 to 53.
When should I choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 over Gemini 4 Argon?
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for production coding assistants, high-volume agents, default model for most teams. The value pick of the table: second on the index at a fifth of the Opus price, and the fastest of the top five.
When should I choose Gemini 4 Argon over Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Choose Gemini 4 Argon for chat and assistant products, google cloud shops, price-sensitive frontier work. Wins the popularity contest: first on Arena, mid-pack on the index, and priced like a workhorse.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 4 Argon?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens on Anthropic's list price (Claude pricing, read Oct 11, 2026). Google does not publish a simple list price for Gemini 4 Argon; Artificial Analysis estimates a blended $1.99 per million tokens (three input to one output).
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100 and computed, not typed: 55% independent evals (Artificial Analysis, Arena, Scale SEAL, Epoch, each scaled against its natural floor and the best score in this table, then averaged), 15% blended price on a fixed log scale ($0.05 per million is 100, $60 is 0), 15% practitioner sentiment from Signals and community threads, 15% operational fit (context window, open weights). A missing component drops out and the rest are reweighted. A model with no independent eval yet is provisional and ranks below every measured one. Within three points is a tie. Vendor-published figures are labelled and never counted. Prices are vendor list prices where published; blended figures assume three input tokens per output token.