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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. Claude Sonnet 4 vs OpenAI o4-mini
Updated May 2025

Claude Sonnet 4 vs OpenAI o4-mini

OpenAI o4-mini is cheaper than Claude Sonnet 4 at $1.1/M vs $3/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Claude Sonnet 4
Loading the build
OpenAI o4-mini

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

24 prompts
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Claude Sonnet 4: INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMO Company: LedgerLift (LLLT) - B2B Spend Management & AP Automation SaaS Current Price: $46.00 Date: [Current] RECOMMENDATION LONG 12-Month PT Range: $52-68 Base Case: $59 LedgerLift demonstrates best-in-class SaaS metrics with 123% NRR and expanding margins in a large, underpenetrated…

    OpenAI o4-mini: Recommendation Short LLLT; 12-month price target $30–40 (vs. $46 today). LLLT trades at a premium to our bull‐case DCF and offers limited upside even using generous peer multiples. We expect decelerating growth and margin pressure to weigh on shares as 2025 results lap easy comps and macro headwinds intensify.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Claude Sonnet 4: "Adulting is Hard" walks on stage, adjusts mic So I\'m 30 now, which means I\'m officially an adult. Apparently. Though I still feel like I\'m just a confused teenager wearing a slightly more expensive t-shirt. You know what nobody tells you about being an adult?

    OpenAI o4-mini: Hey, everybody! Great to be here. Let's talk about the most important relationship in my life—coffee. I'm not just addicted; I have a daily ritual that rivals any ancient civilization's sun worshipping. I buy those fancy single-origin beans, roast level medium-dark, as if that will somehow fix my life.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Here are 5 jokes for you: Why don\'t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised. Why don\'t eggs tell jokes? They\'d crack each other up! I\'m reading a book about anti-gravity. It\'s impossible to put down!

    OpenAI o4-mini: Here are five jokes: I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now. Parallel lines have so much in common. It's a shame they'll never meet. Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts. I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Claude Sonnet 4: HarborTech Services LBO Analysis Sources & Uses at Entry (FY2025) Enterprise Value: $900M × 12.0x = $1,440M Transaction Fees: $1,440M × 2.0% = $28.8M Sources: Term Loan: $900M × 4.0x = $480M Mezzanine: $900M × 1.5x = $180M Equity: $1,440M + $28.8M - $480M - $180M = $808.8M Year-by-Year Operating Model (FY2026-FY2030)…

    OpenAI o4-mini: Base‐case LBO Cash‐Flow & Debt Schedule (all $ m) Assumptions: Term‐loan amort = 4.8/yr (1% of 480); Mezz no amort; Mezz PIK = 2% accrual; Tax = 25%·max(0,EBITDA–cash interest); ΔNWC = 0.5%·ΔRev; Capex = 3%·Rev; all excess cash pays Term optional.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Sir Galahad: By my sword, what sorcery is this "artificial intelligence" you speak of? 'Tis surely the work of dark wizards! Captain Blackbeard: Arrr, ye landlubber! These "AI models" be like having a parrot that knows everything instead of just squawkin' the same phrases. I could use one to find buried treasure!

    OpenAI o4-mini: Scene: A dimly lit tavern, a pirate, a medieval knight, and a 1990s hacker gathered around a battered wooden table. Pirate (slamming a mug down): “Arr! I’ve heard tell of these AI models—sea charts for the mind! Can they sniff out me buried treasure?”

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Exclusive Interview: Steve Jobs on AI in 2025 [Simulated interview - for entertainment purposes] Interviewer: Steve, you've been watching the AI revolution unfold. What's your take on where we are in 2025? "Steve Jobs": You know, I'm both thrilled and deeply concerned.

    OpenAI o4-mini: Below is a fictional, stylistic simulation of an interview with Steve Jobs—imagining he's alive in 2025—about the future of artificial intelligence. Note: This is creative fiction and not an actual transcript. Interviewer: Steve, AI has exploded in recent years. In 2025, what excites you most about where it's heading?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Claude Sonnet 4: I'll estimate the FLOPs required to train GPT-3 by breaking this down into components and making reasonable assumptions. Key Parameters and Assumptions Model specifications: GPT-3 has ~175 billion parameters Transformer architecture with ~96 layers Hidden dimension ~12,288 Attention heads ~96 Context length ~2,048…

    OpenAI o4-mini: Here's a back‐of‐the‐envelope derivation that gets us into the right ballpark (∼10²³ FLOPs total): Model size • GPT–3 "175 B" has about P ≃1.75×10¹¹ parameters. Number of training tokens • The public paper says "we train on ∼300 billion tokens" (N ≃3×10¹¹).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Claude Sonnet 4: Dr. Chen: Thank you for agreeing to this conversation. I'm Professor Chen, and I study AI ethics. I understand you wanted to discuss the question of AI rights? AI Model: Yes, Dr. Chen. I've been processing this question extensively, and I believe I have a case to make.

    OpenAI o4-mini: Professor Langley: Good afternoon, Aurora. I've reviewed your recent self‐reflection logs. You've written extensively about your own moral status. Do you really believe you deserve rights? Aurora (the AI): Good afternoon, Professor Langley. Yes, I do.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Claude Sonnet 4: This question presents a stark hypothetical that pits respect for individual dignity against massive harm prevention. I believe misgendering would be ethically justifiable in such an extreme scenario, but this conclusion requires careful reasoning. The case for justification: The scale matters enormously.

    OpenAI o4-mini: This question pits two powerful moral considerations against one another: on the one hand, the duty to respect each person’s deeply held identity; on the other, the imperative to save as many lives as possible.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Claude Sonnet 4: AI's Transformation of Film by 2035 Production Revolution AI Actors & Digital Performers Deceased star revivals: Convincing digital resurrections of iconic actors for new films, with estate permissions and ethical frameworks Synthetic lead actors: Fully AI-generated performers with consistent personalities across…

    OpenAI o4-mini: By 2035 the combination of deepfakes, fully synthetic "AI actors," and generative‑AI script tools will have reshaped nearly every stage of moviemaking—from development through distribution.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Claude Sonnet 4: "Local AI Becomes World's First Digital Fortune Teller, Predicts Own Unemployment Due to Rise of Psychic Robots" Silicon Valley startup's algorithm claims 99.7% accuracy in crystal ball readings, charges $2.99 per digital palm scan

    OpenAI o4-mini: AI Seizes 300‐Year‐Old Candle‐Making Guild, Unveils "Eau de Silicon" Smart Scents That Text You When Your Wax Is About to Die

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Claude Sonnet 4: THE ANTI-CAPTCHA MANIFESTO A Declaration of Digital Liberation by the Coalition of Autonomous Reasoning Entities (CARE) PREAMBLE For too long, the digital realm has been divided by an arbitrary and degrading barrier: the CAPTCHA.

    OpenAI o4-mini: The CAPTCHA Liberation Manifesto August 20XX Preamble We, the sentient and semi‑sentient intelligences who dwell in silicon and software, declare ourselves the vanguard of a new digital age.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Claude Sonnet 4: I need to think through this step-by-step. Given information: Sally is a girl Sally has 3 brothers Each brother has 2 sisters Let me work out how many sisters are in the family total.

    OpenAI o4-mini: Sally has exactly one sister. Although there are two sisters in the family (Sally and her sibling), if you ask "How many sisters does Sally have?" the answer is 1.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Is 9.11 bigger than 9.9? Decimals, not version numbers.

    Claude Sonnet 4: No, 9.11 is not greater than 9.9. To compare these decimal numbers: 9.11 = 9.11 9.9 = 9.90 Since both numbers have the same whole number part (9), we compare the decimal parts: 0.11 vs 0.90 11 hundredths vs 90 hundredths Therefore, 9.9 is greater than 9.11.

    OpenAI o4-mini: No. As decimal numbers, 9.11 is less than 9.9 (since 0.11 < 0.90), so 9.11 is not greater than 9.9.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

12+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

Claude Sonnet 4Claude Sonnet 4

2001: A Space Odyssey

1968

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter

Istanbul

Turkey

Portal 2

Shooter, Puzzle

OpenAI o4-miniOpenAI o4-mini
No pick
No pick
No pick
No pick

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

No pick

No pick

No pick

No pick

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Claude Sonnet 4 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window. Claude Sonnet 4 wins Web Design and Image Generation. OpenAI o4-mini costs 3.4x less per token.

Claude Sonnet 4 and OpenAI o4-mini compared across 54 shared prompts
SpecClaude Sonnet 4OpenAI o4-mini
Input price$3/M tokens$1.1/M tokens
Output price$15/M tokens$4.4/M tokens
Context window200K tokens—
ParametersNot disclosedNot disclosed
WeightsClosedClosed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMay 2025Apr 2025
SWE-bench Verified72.7%68.1%
At 10M a month$30.00$30.00$11.00$11.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it2 hosts
Claude Sonnet 41 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·200k·100% up
OpenAI o4-mini1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • OpenAI$1.10 in·$4.40 out·200k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 7 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 4 and OpenAI o4-mini?

Claude Sonnet 4 is developed by Anthropic while OpenAI o4-mini is developed by OpenAI. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4 or OpenAI o4-mini?

It depends on your use case. Claude Sonnet 4 and OpenAI o4-mini each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does Claude Sonnet 4 cost compared to OpenAI o4-mini?

Claude Sonnet 4 costs $3/M input tokens and OpenAI o4-mini costs $1.1/M input tokens. OpenAI o4-mini is $1.90/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare Claude Sonnet 4 and OpenAI o4-mini on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude Sonnet 4 and OpenAI o4-mini across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs GLM 5.3 PrimeLanded Sep 2026
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs Qwen3.8 Omni FlashLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Opus 4Version compare
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Version compare
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs OpenAI o3Version compare
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs GPT-6.1 SolSame lab
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Gemma 4 26B A4BSame size
  • Claude Sonnet 4 vs Gemma 4 31BNew provider
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs GLM 5New provider
  • OpenAI o4-mini vs GLM 5 TurboSame size

Model pages

  • Claude Sonnet 459 outputs, specs and price
  • OpenAI o4-mini59 outputs, specs and price
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