Claude Opus 4.6 vs GPT-5.2
An opinionated, data-driven comparison of the two leading frontier AI models.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Claude Opus 4.6 | GPT-5.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Input $/1M tokens | $5.00 | $2.50 |
| Output $/1M tokens | $25.00 | $10.00 |
| Context window | 200K | 1M |
| Max output | 32K | 64K |
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Thinking mode | Yes | Yes |
| Code generation | Excellent | Excellent |
| Creative writing | Excellent | Good |
| Instruction following | Excellent | Very Good |
| Safety / alignment | Very conservative | Moderate |
| API availability | Direct + AWS Bedrock | Direct + Azure |
Capability Radar
Verdict
Choose Claude when:
- Deep reasoning and complex multi-step analysis
- Large, interconnected codebases
- Safety-critical or compliance-heavy applications
- Creative writing that requires nuance and voice
Choose GPT-5 when:
- Cost-sensitive, high-volume workloads
- Large context windows are essential (1M tokens)
- Multimodal workflows (vision + audio + text)
- Azure ecosystem integration
Use Both When:
Most serious AI teams use both. Route simple summarization and high-volume tasks to GPT-5 for cost efficiency, and send complex reasoning, code review, and safety-sensitive queries to Claude. A model router pays for itself quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Claude Opus 4.6 better than GPT-5.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 leads on creative writing, instruction following, and safety. GPT-5.2 wins on price (5× cheaper input, 2.5× cheaper output), context window (1M vs 200K), and max output. For coding both are excellent — pick GPT-5.2 if cost matters, Claude if voice/safety matter.
How much does Claude Opus 4.6 cost vs GPT-5.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00 per 1M input tokens and $25.00 per 1M output tokens. GPT-5.2 costs $2.50 input / $10.00 output. Per million tokens of mixed workload (~2:1 input:output), GPT-5.2 is roughly half the price.
Which has a bigger context window — Claude or GPT-5?
GPT-5.2 supports a 1M-token context window vs Claude Opus 4.6 at 200K. For repository-scale code analysis or long-document RAG, GPT-5.2 holds more in working memory before chunking is required.
When should I use Claude over GPT-5?
Use Claude when (a) brand voice consistency matters, (b) refusal behavior on edge cases is a feature not a bug, (c) you need strong creative writing or marketing copy. Use GPT-5.2 when cost, context length, or raw throughput dominates.