Anthropic vs Google: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence
Full comparison of Anthropic and Google — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.
Anthropic
Claude 5 — Fable 5.1, Opus 5, Sonnet 5, Haiku 4.5 with 1M context
Anthropic builds the Claude model family, now in its fifth generation. The Claude 5 lineup includes Fable 5.1 and Opus 5 at the frontier (1M+ token context, reasoning models), Claude Sonnet 5 for production workloads, and Haiku 4.5 for cost-efficient inference. Anthropic also offers Claude Code (agentic coding) and Claude Science (research) as specialised products. Prompt caching is available at up to 90% discount.
Gemini 3.8 Flash — plus Veo 3.1 video, Lyria 3.5 music, and Gemini Omni
Google DeepMind's Gemini 3.x family spans Gemini 3.8 Flash (latest, promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. The platform has expanded far beyond text: Veo 3.1 for video generation, Lyria 3.5 for music generation, Gemini Omni for video generation, and Gemini Embedding 2 for multimodal embeddings. Gemma 4 open-weight models are free via the API. Check the live table for current per-token rates.
Key metric comparison
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Live token pricing
Strengths and weaknesses
Anthropic
Key differentiators
Claude 5 Opus and Fable 5 lead the BenchLM leaderboard as of September 2026, with 1M+ context windows and extended reasoning — plus Claude Code for agentic software engineering.
A wide multimodal AI API — text, image, video (Veo 3.1), music (Lyria 3.5), speech, transcription, and robotics under one key, with Gemini 3.8 Flash at promotional pricing until end of 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Anthropic FAQs
What are the latest Anthropic Claude models?
The Claude 5 family includes Fable 5.1 and Opus 5 (frontier reasoning), Claude Sonnet 5 (balanced), and Haiku 4.5 (efficient tier). Claude Code is a specialised agentic coding product. Check docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/about-claude/models for current pricing.
What is the context window for Claude 5 models?
Claude 5 Opus, Fable 5, and Mythos 5 all support 1M+ token context windows, enabling full-codebase and book-length document analysis in a single call.
How does Anthropic prompt caching work?
Anthropic's prompt caching lets you mark portions of your prompt (system prompts, documents, tool definitions) to be cached server-side. Cached tokens are billed at 10% of the standard input price after the first write, making repeated long-context calls dramatically cheaper.
Google FAQs
What are the latest Google Gemini models?
As of September 2026, the Gemini 3.x family includes Gemini 3.8 Flash (newest, promotional pricing until December 31, 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.
What is Gemini 3.8 Flash pricing?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is on promotional pricing until December 31, 2026, with standard rates applying from January 1, 2027. Batch pricing is 50% off. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.
Does Google offer video generation via API?
Yes. Veo 3.1 generates video at 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolutions. Gemini Omni Flash is also available for video generation. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.
Provider resources
Anthropic — Claude 5 — Fable 5.1, Opus 5, Sonnet 5, Haiku 4.5 with 1M context
Anthropic builds the Claude model family, now in its fifth generation. The Claude 5 lineup includes Fable 5.1 and Opus 5 at the frontier (1M+ token context, reasoning models), Claude Sonnet 5 for production workloads, and Haiku 4.5 for cost-efficient inference. Anthropic also offers Claude Code (agentic coding) and Claude Science (research) as specialised products. Prompt caching is available at up to 90% discount.
Claude 5 Opus and Fable 5 lead the BenchLM leaderboard as of September 2026, with 1M+ context windows and extended reasoning — plus Claude Code for agentic software engineering.
Google — Gemini 3.8 Flash — plus Veo 3.1 video, Lyria 3.5 music, and Gemini Omni
Google DeepMind's Gemini 3.x family spans Gemini 3.8 Flash (latest, promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. The platform has expanded far beyond text: Veo 3.1 for video generation, Lyria 3.5 for music generation, Gemini Omni for video generation, and Gemini Embedding 2 for multimodal embeddings. Gemma 4 open-weight models are free via the API. Check the live table for current per-token rates.
A wide multimodal AI API — text, image, video (Veo 3.1), music (Lyria 3.5), speech, transcription, and robotics under one key, with Gemini 3.8 Flash at promotional pricing until end of 2026.
Key strengths compared
Anthropic
- Claude 5 family leads on coding and reasoning benchmarks
- 1M+ token context window on Claude 5 models
- Aggressive prompt caching — up to 90% discount
- No open-weight models — full vendor lock-in
- Frontier models are among the higher-priced options — check live table for current rates
- Gemini 3.8 Flash: promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026 — check live table for current rates
- Wide multimodal API: text, image, audio, video generation, music, speech, transcription
- Veo 3.1 video generation (720p/1080p/4K)
- Promotional pricing expires Jan 1 2027 — prices double
- Complex tiered pricing based on context length (≤200K vs >200K)
Key weaknesses compared
Anthropic
- No open-weight models — full vendor lock-in
- Frontier models are among the higher-priced options — check live table for current rates
- No native image generation capability
- Promotional pricing expires Jan 1 2027 — prices double
- Complex tiered pricing based on context length (≤200K vs >200K)
- API reliability has historically lagged OpenAI
Provider category context
Anthropic is a frontier lab, founded in 2021. Google is a frontier lab, founded in 1998. Both are frontier lab providers — the comparison is primarily about pricing, model selection, and feature differentiation within the same tier.
How to choose between them
Both Anthropic and Google are frontier labs with proprietary models. Choose based on benchmark performance for your specific task: Anthropic leads on claude 5 family leads on coding and reasoning benchmarks, while Google leads on gemini 3.8 flash: promotional pricing until dec 31 2026 — check live table for current rates. For cost-sensitive workloads, compare the cheapest model tier from each provider in the pricing table above — the gap between efficient-tier models is often larger than between flagship models.