Skip to content
TokenGauge
Menu

Anthropic · Frontier

Claude Sonnet 5 API pricing

The default model for many coding agents. The volume model for teams, so the per-token discount compounds fastest here.

Snapshot October 2026 · USD per million tokens · Best for: daily coding in Cursor, Cline and Claude Code
SayGM, in / out
$1.78 / $8.89
No top-up fee
OpenRouter, in / out
$2.11 / $10.55
Includes the 5.5% top-up fee
Provider list price
$2.00 / $10.00
Anthropic direct
Per 100M tokens, 80/20
$320
$380 on OpenRouter

§ 01

What a month costs

The same three workloads used across the index. At every level the SayGM bill is about 16% lower.

Fig. 1Monthly bill at three usage levels, Claude Sonnet 5
  • OpenRouter, fee included
  • SayGM
Side project5M in · 1M out
$21
$18
Production app50M in · 15M out
$264
$222
High volume500M in · 100M out
$2,110
$1,779
Show data as a table
OpenRouter, fee includedSayGM
Side project (5M in · 1M out)$21$18
Production app (50M in · 15M out)$264$222
High volume (500M in · 100M out)$2,110$1,779
Usage is millions of input and output tokens per month. No caching discount applied. Source: published rate cards, October 2026 snapshot. Current prices on saygm.com (opens in a new tab).

§ 02

Where the money goes

Output tokens cost 5.0 times more than input on Claude Sonnet 5. At an 80/20 mix they make up 56% of the bill.

Fig. 2Share of the bill from output tokens at an 80/20 token mix
  • Input tokens (80% of volume)
  • Output tokens (20% of volume)
Claude Fable 5.1
Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Opus 5
Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Haiku 4.5
Show data as a table
ModelShare of bill from inputShare of bill from output
Claude Fable 5.144%56%
Claude Opus 5.544%56%
Claude Sonnet 5.544%56%
Claude Opus 544%56%
Claude Sonnet 544%56%
Claude Haiku 4.544%56%
Output tokens are a fifth of the volume but most of the cost on every frontier model. Trimming output length saves more than trimming prompts. Source: published rate cards, October 2026 snapshot. Current prices on saygm.com (opens in a new tab).

§ 03

Estimate a Claude Sonnet 5 bill

50M
10M

Monthly bill by provider

  • OpenRouter, fee included$211
  • Requesty, 5% included$210
  • Vercel AI Gateway$200
  • Anthropic direct, list price$200
  • SayGM$178
A year, vs the cheapest alternative
$265
11% lower than Vercel AI Gateway
A year, vs OpenRouter
$397
Fee included

Uncached prices from the October 2026 snapshot. Prompt caching lowers every provider's bill; batch jobs bought direct cost half of list. Current SayGM rates are on saygm.com (opens in a new tab).

§ 04

Other Anthropic models

USD per million tokens, input and output. OpenRouter includes its 5.5% top-up fee. Snapshot from October 2026.
ModelSayGMin / outOpenRouterin / out, fee incl.SayGM vs OpenRouter80/20 blend
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic$8.89 / $44.45$10.55 / $52.75
16% lower
Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic$3.56 / $17.78$4.22 / $21.10
16% lower
Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic$1.78 / $8.89$2.11 / $10.55
16% lower
Claude Opus 5Anthropic$4.45 / $22.23$5.28 / $26.38
16% lower
Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic$1.78 / $8.89$2.11 / $10.55
16% lower
Claude Haiku 4.5Anthropic$0.89 / $4.45$1.06 / $5.28
16% lower

§ 05

Compare and set up

Head to head

Use it in

Current SayGM rates (opens in a new tab)

§ 06

Claude Sonnet 5 questions

How much does Claude Sonnet 5 cost on SayGM?

As of October 2026, $1.78 per million input tokens and $8.89 per million output tokens, with no top-up fee. Prices are set per epoch and capped at list, so check saygm.com for the live rate.

Is Claude Sonnet 5 cheaper on SayGM or OpenRouter?

SayGM is about 16 percent cheaper at an 80/20 input to output mix once OpenRouter's 5.5 percent fee is included.

Which API does SayGM use for Claude Sonnet 5?

The model's native API. Anthropic features such as caching, tool use and structured output work unchanged. Any Anthropic SDK works by changing the base URL.