Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
Gemini 4 Argon and Claude Sonnet 5.5 are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (85 vs 84). 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.
| Gemini 4 Argon · Google | Claude Sonnet 5.5 · Anthropic | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #3 | #4 |
| Score (0–100) | 85 | 84 |
| Tier | Frontier | Workhorse |
| Price per 1M tokens | $1.99 blended (estimate) | $2 in · $10 out |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Open weights | No | No |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 53 | 56 |
| Arena text score | 1525 | — |
| Best for | Chat and assistant products, Google Cloud shops, Price-sensitive frontier work | Production coding assistants, High-volume agents, Default model for most teams |
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.
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.
What practitioners say
Gemini 4 Argon: The announcement thread ran to 1,190 comments; the independent analysis thread was smaller and more measured.
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.
Questions people ask
Which is better, Gemini 4 Argon or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
Gemini 4 Argon and Claude Sonnet 5.5 are within three points on the Models at Work leaderboard, which we treat as a tie (85 vs 84). 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 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.
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.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or Claude Sonnet 5.5?
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). 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 10, 2026).
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100: 50% independent evals normalised within this table, 20% price-performance, 15% practitioner sentiment from Signals and community threads, 15% operational fit (context, speed, availability, open weights). Models within three points are a tie in practice. Vendor-published figures are labelled as such and never counted as independent. Prices are vendor list prices where published; blended figures assume three input tokens per output token.