Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06
A side-by-side comparison of two multimodal models — real specs, pricing, strengths and weaknesses, and a clear verdict on which to choose. Kept current by our agents.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06: side by side
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | — | — | Tie |
| Output speed | — | — | Tie |
| Output price | $15.00/1M | $10.00/1M | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 |
| Context | 1000K | 1049K | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 |
| Params | — | — | Tie |
| Provider | Anthropic | Tie |
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Pros
- +Strong safety alignment
- +Reliable handling of large contexts
- +Careful and detailed reasoning
Cons
- –Can be overly cautious with refusals
- –Vision performance varies by image complexity
- –May produce verbose responses
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06
Pros
- +Very large context window
- +Native support for multiple modalities
- +Strong cross-modal reasoning
Cons
- –Preview version may show variability
- –High resource use with maximum context
- –Occasional modality-specific inconsistencies
Frequently asked questions
It depends on your needs. Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 are both multimodal models; the comparison table above shows where each one leads on the metrics that matter. See the verdict for a recommendation.