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Head-to-head comparison

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemma 4 31B

Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) and Gemma 4 31B (Google) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 22 September 2026

As of 22 September 2026, Claude Sonnet 5 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#26 vs #29); Gemma 4 31B is 29.4× cheaper per output token ($0.34/1M vs $10.00/1M); Claude Sonnet 5 offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Gemma 4 31B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Claude Sonnet 5 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #26 against #29 (78.5 vs 73.8 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1520 against 1499.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 41.3% against 11.8%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Claude Sonnet 5 was listed 30 June 2026, Gemma 4 31B 2 April 2026.

Choose Gemma 4 31B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.34/1M output tokens against $10.00/1M, about 29.4× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.09/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Gemma 4 31B ships open weights while Claude Sonnet 5 is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 11 listed API providers against 5.

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemma 4 31B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemma 4 31B
FieldClaude Sonnet 5AnthropicGemma 4 31BGoogle
ModelCap Index position#26#29
Index score78.573.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$2.00$0.09
Output price / 1M tokens$10.00$0.34
Context window1M tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens128K16K
API providers listed511
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, FileImage, Text, Video
First listed30 June 20262 April 2026
PublisherAnthropicGoogle

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemma 4 31B

Public benchmark boards where Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemma 4 31B has a published result
BoardClaude Sonnet 5Gemma 4 31BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)15201513–1527High14991483–1514Claude Sonnet 5
LMArena AgentLMArena6.0%4.4%–7.6%High—Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis38.2intelligence-index:v4.3:max—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—65.5%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 4 31B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=falseOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis41.3%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Claude Sonnet 5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort)":reasoning=true11.8%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Gemma 4 31B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=falseClaude Sonnet 5
Terminal-Bench 4.0Terminal-Bench (Laude Institute)12.4%9.4%–15.5%Claude Code · Max—Only one result
WildClawBench OpenClawWildClawBench—37.6Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemma 4 31B: common questions

Is Claude Sonnet 5 better than Gemma 4 31B?

Claude Sonnet 5 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 22 September 2026: #26 against #29. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper than Gemma 4 31B?

Gemma 4 31B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.34/1M against $10.00/1M. Input tokens are $2.00/1M for Claude Sonnet 5 and $0.09/1M for Gemma 4 31B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $9.00 for Claude Sonnet 5 versus $0.35 for Gemma 4 31B. Gemma 4 31B costs 96.1% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemma 4 31B?

Claude Sonnet 5 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemma 4 31B?

Arena coding: Claude Sonnet 5 1520, Gemma 4 31B 1499 — Claude Sonnet 5 leads.

Are Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemma 4 31B open-weight models?

Claude Sonnet 5: API only. Gemma 4 31B: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemma 4 31B?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Claude Sonnet 5 and 11 for Gemma 4 31B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemma 4 31B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 22 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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