LLM Economics

Claude vs Gemini: API Cost Comparison

Compare Claude and Gemini on the same workload and see which is cheaper.

Shared workload

For this workload, Gemini is cheaper by ~ $510,000.00/year.

Cost comparison

Side-by-side metrics

MetricClaudeGemini
Monthly cost$105,000.00$62,500.00
Yearly cost$1,260,000.00$750,000.00
Daily cost$3,500.00$2,083.33
Yearly saving$510,000.00 saved

Claude

Estimated yearly cost
$1,260,000.00/yr
Switch to OpenAI GPT-5
Switching to OpenAI GPT-5 would cut this workload from $1,260,000.00/yr to $750,000.00/yr.
$510,000.00
saved / year (40.5%)
Monthly cost
$105,000.00/mo
Daily cost
$3,500.00/day
Cost per request
$10.5000
Model
Claude Sonnet 4.6

Cost breakdown

ItemMonthlyYearly
Input tokens$10,000.00$120,000.00
Output tokens$5,000.00$60,000.00
Spend$105,000.00$1,260,000.00

Comparison

OptionMonthlyYearly
OpenAI GPT-5cheapest$62,500.00$750,000.00
Claude Claude Sonnet 4.6current$105,000.00$1,260,000.00
Gemini Gemini 2.5 Pro$62,500.00$750,000.00

Data updated 2026-06-30 · openai.com/api/pricing openai.com/api/pricing · platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing · ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing

Industry Benchmark

Output price vs. peer average ($/1M tokens)Industry avg: 11.67 $/1M
You are at the 64th percentile

Data updated 2026-06-30 · openai.com/api/pricing openai.com/api/pricing · platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing · ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing

Gemini

Estimated yearly cost
$750,000.00/yr
Switch to OpenAI GPT-5
Switching to OpenAI GPT-5 would cut this workload from $750,000.00/yr to $750,000.00/yr.
Monthly cost
$62,500.00/mo
Daily cost
$2,083.33/day
Cost per request
$6.2500
Model
Gemini 2.5 Pro

Cost breakdown

ItemMonthlyYearly
Input tokens$10,000.00$120,000.00
Output tokens$5,000.00$60,000.00
Spend$62,500.00$750,000.00

Comparison

OptionMonthlyYearly
OpenAI GPT-5cheapest$62,500.00$750,000.00
Claude Claude Sonnet 4.6$105,000.00$1,260,000.00
Gemini Gemini 2.5 Procurrent$62,500.00$750,000.00

Data updated 2026-06-30 · openai.com/api/pricing openai.com/api/pricing · platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing · ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing

Industry Benchmark

Output price vs. peer average ($/1M tokens)Industry avg: 11.67 $/1M
You are at the 43th percentile

Data updated 2026-06-30 · openai.com/api/pricing openai.com/api/pricing · platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing platform.claude.com/docs/about-claude/pricing · ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing

Pricing model differences

Claude and Gemini price input and output tokens at different rates and offer different caching and batch discounts. For output-heavy workloads the output token price dominates; for context-heavy workloads, cached-input pricing matters most.

When to choose each

Pick the provider whose pricing best fits your token ratio and volume. Use the shared input above to model your real workload, then check the cheaper option and the annual saving before committing.

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Claude or Gemini?

It depends on your token mix and volume. Enter your workload above — the calculator computes both and shows the cheaper option with the exact yearly saving.

How do the pricing models differ?

Each provider prices input and output tokens differently and offers different cached-input and batch discounts. The side-by-side breakdown makes the difference explicit.

Is this based on official pricing?

It uses comparable-tier placeholder pricing from a versioned JSON config. Verify against each provider's official price page; the footer shows the data version.

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Claude vs Gemini: API Cost Comparison | LLM Economics