OpenAI o4-mini vs Claude Sonnet 4.6

Compare OpenAI o4-mini by OpenAI against Claude Sonnet 4.6 by Anthropic, tested across 34 shared challenges. Updated March 2026.

Which is better, OpenAI o4-mini or Claude Sonnet 4.6?

OpenAI o4-mini and Claude Sonnet 4.6 are both competitive models. OpenAI o4-mini costs $1.1/M input tokens vs $3/M for Claude Sonnet 4.6. Compare their real outputs side by side below.

Key Differences Between OpenAI o4-mini and Claude Sonnet 4.6

OpenAI o4-mini is made by openai while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is from anthropic. On pricing, OpenAI o4-mini costs $1.1/M input tokens vs $3/M for Claude Sonnet 4.6.

Our Verdict
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Sonnet 4.6
OpenAI o4-mini
OpenAI o4-miniRunner-up

No community votes yet. On paper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge — bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window.

OpenAI o4-mini is 3.4x cheaper per token — worth considering if cost matters.

Too close to call
Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
83%

Claude Sonnet 4.6 uses 507.4x more bold

OpenAI o4-mini
Claude Sonnet 4.6
73%Vocabulary56%
15wSentence Length36w
0.18Hedging0.53
0.0Bold5.1
2.1Lists3.4
0.00Emoji0.19
0.00Headings2.10
0.02Transitions0.02
Based on 10 + 23 text responses
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OpenAI o4-miniClaude Sonnet 4.6
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