Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite

Pick up to 3 models · pricing, context and capabilities · simulate your product cost

Data updated on September 30, 2026· 217 models

AnthropicSonnet 5.5

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is Anthropic's Sonnet-class model for well-scoped everyday work, succeeding Claude Sonnet 5 as a direct upgrade.

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Reasoning estimated
▲
Speed estimated
Input
Output
Context
1 M tokens
Max output
▲128 K
Input, $ per 1M tokens
$2.00
Output, $ per 1M tokens
$10.00
Cache read, $ per 1M
$0.200
Batch (input / output)
$1.00 / $5.00
Tool calling
Yes
Released
▲09/28/2026
Knowledge cutoff
2026-06
API id
anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5
GoogleFlash Lite

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is a lightweight reasoning model in the Gemini 2.5 family, optimized for ultra-low latency and cost efficiency.

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Reasoning estimated
Speed estimated
▲
Input
Output
Context
▲1 M tokens
Max output
66 K
Input, $ per 1M tokens
▲$0.100
Output, $ per 1M tokens
▲$0.400
Cache read, $ per 1M
$0.010
Batch (input / output)
$0.050 / $0.200
Tool calling
Yes
Released
07/22/2025
Knowledge cutoff
2025-07
API id
google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite
Third model (optional)
text image audio video PDF / file reasoning (1 to 5, estimated by family) speed (1 to 4, estimated by family)▲ best value among the selected

Which is the better API choice: Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: cheapest input (95% less than Claude Sonnet 5.5)
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: cheapest output
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: largest context (1 M)
  • Claude Sonnet 5.5: the newest (09/28/2026)
  • Claude Sonnet 5.5: most reasoning (estimated)
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: the fastest (estimated)

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs 95% less on input and 96% less on output than Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($0.100 / $0.400 versus $2.00 / $10.00 per million tokens). Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite accepts more context (1 M). On capabilities, only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite accepts audio. Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite offer a batch tier at half price for jobs that do not need an immediate answer.

What would your product cost?

Estimate the monthly cost with your app's real volume. List prices, no cache or batch discounts.

Claude Sonnet 5.5
$70.00/mo
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
$3.10/mo

With Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite you save $66.90 a month versus Claude Sonnet 5.5 (96% less).

The 6 cheapest for this scenario (chat, last 12 months)

  1. 1Lyria 3 Pro Preview Google$0.00
  2. 2Lyria 3 Clip Preview Google$0.00
  3. 3Qwen3.7 Flash Qwen$0.97
  4. 4DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 DeepSeek$1.55
  5. 5Ministral 3 3B 2512 Mistral$1.90
  6. 6Qwen3.5-Flash Qwen$2.02

Paste your prompt: tokens and cost per model

Rough estimate (about 4 characters per token). Nothing is sent to any server.

76tokens approx.287 characters

Cost of sending it 1,000 times (input only)

  1. 1Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Google$0.008
  2. 2Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic$0.152
  3. 3Claude Sonnet 5 Anthropic$0.152
  4. 4Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic$0.304
  5. 5Claude Opus 5 Anthropic$0.380
  6. 6Claude Opus 4.8 Anthropic$0.380
  7. 7Claude Fable 5.1 Anthropic$0.760
  8. 8Claude Fable 5 Anthropic$0.760

Popular comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Which is the better API choice: Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs 95% less on input and 96% less on output than Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($0.100 / $0.400 versus $2.00 / $10.00 per million tokens). Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite accepts more context (1 M). On capabilities, only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite accepts audio. Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite offer a batch tier at half price for jobs that do not need an immediate answer.

Which is cheaper: Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite is cheaper: $0.100 per million input tokens and $0.400 per million output tokens, versus $2.00 / $10.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.5.

Which has more context: Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite accepts 1 M tokens of context; Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts 1 M.

Which is newer: Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

Claude Sonnet 5.5 was released on 09/28/2026; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on 07/22/2025.

What would 10,000 requests a month cost with Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?

With 1,500 input and 400 output tokens per request: Claude Sonnet 5.5: $70.00; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: $3.10 a month, at list price.

Where do the prices come from and how often are they updated?

From the public catalogs of OpenRouter, models.dev and LiteLLM, which publish each provider's list prices. They sync once a day and the last update date is shown above the comparison.

What does price per million tokens mean?

It is what the provider charges per million tokens you send (input) or the model generates (output). A token is roughly 4 characters. Output almost always costs more than input.

Sources: OpenRouter, models.dev and LiteLLM. Prices in USD per million tokens, list price, no volume discounts. Prompt tokens are an estimate; each provider's tokenizer may differ.