There is no single best model — match it to the job. Claude (Anthropic) is the common choice for coding and agents; GPT (OpenAI) is the broad general-purpose reasoner with the widest tooling ecosystem; Gemini (Google) leads on price-performance, context length and multimodal. This guide gives the honest positioning plus the hard price facts — all three on Kunavo, callable from one key.
Price comparison (Kunavo rates)
Rates are per 1M tokens, in USD, as billed on Kunavo (30–70% under each provider's list, varying by model). Rows are equivalent tiers so you can compare like for like.
| Tier | Gemini (Google) | Claude (Anthropic) | GPT (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest capable (in / out) | gemini-2-5-flash$0.09 / $0.75 | claude-haiku-4-5$0.40 / $2.00 | gpt-5-4-mini$0.225 / $1.35 |
| Balanced (in / out) | gemini-2-5-pro$0.375 / $3.00 | claude-sonnet-5$2.10 / $10.50 | gpt-5-4$1.00 / $6.00 |
| Hardest reasoning (in / out) | gemini-2-5-pro$0.375 / $3.00 | claude-fable-5$7.00 / $35.00 | gpt-5-5$2.00 / $12.00 |
Gemini's frontier tier (Gemini 3) is not currently enabled on Kunavo, so 2.5 Pro represents Google in the top row. Claude's previous generation stays available and much cheaper — Sonnet 4.6 at $1.20 / $6.00 and Opus 4.7 at $2.00 / $10.00 — if you want Claude quality on a budget. Live rates are always on the pricing page. Per-provider detail is in the Claude, Gemini and GPT pricing guides.
What each is chosen for
Reputations, not benchmarks — the reason teams reach for each. Always validate on your own task.
- Claude (Anthropic) — coding and agentic workflows, careful instruction-following, long-form writing, and tool use. The 2026 Claude 5 family adds Fable 5 (Anthropic's most capable model, for frontier reasoning and long-horizon agents) and Sonnet 5 (near-Opus coding at Sonnet cost). Adds the native Messages API and prompt caching (cached input at 10% of the input rate).
- GPT (OpenAI) — broad general-purpose reasoning, the largest ecosystem and tooling familiarity, strong function calling, and a code-tuned Codex variant.
- Gemini (Google) — best price-performance, very large context windows, and strong multimodal (vision). Gemini 2.5 Flash is the cheapest capable tier across the three.
Which should I use?
| If you need… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest high-volume calls | gemini-2-5-flash | Lowest per-token rate of any capable model here. |
| Coding & agents | claude-sonnet-5 | Newest Sonnet — near-Opus coding; Sonnet 4.6 stays the budget pick. |
| Frontier reasoning & agents | claude-fable-5 | Anthropic's most capable model for the hardest long-horizon work. |
| General reasoning + ecosystem | gpt-5-4 | Broad general-purpose quality and tooling familiarity. |
| Long context / vision / value | gemini-2-5-pro | Large context and multimodal at a low price. |
The cost-optimal pattern is to route by difficulty: send the easy 80% to a cheap tier (Flash or Mini), escalate the hard 20% to Sonnet 5, Fable 5 or GPT-5.5 only when a check fails. See the AI cost optimization guide for the routing pattern in code.
Call all three from one API
You don't have to commit. Kunavo is OpenAI-compatible, so one sk-kunavo- key reaches Claude, GPT and Gemini — change only the model slug to switch. That makes head-to-head testing on your own task a one-line change, billed once via Stripe at 30–70% under each provider's list depending on the model. See the AI gateway guide for the pattern and the quickstart to start.
FAQ
Which is best: Claude, GPT or Gemini?
No single winner — match the model to the job. Claude for coding and agents, GPT for general reasoning and ecosystem, Gemini for price-performance, context length and multimodal. Kunavo lets you call all three from one key and route per task.
Which is cheapest?
Gemini 2.5 Flash, at $0.09 / $0.75 per 1M tokens on Kunavo — below GPT-5.4 Mini ($0.225 / $1.35) and Claude Haiku 4.5 ($0.40 / $2.00) for high-volume work.
Is Claude or GPT better for coding?
Claude (Sonnet 5, Opus, and the frontier Fable 5) has a strong coding reputation and OpenAI ships a code-tuned gpt-5-3-codex. Both are capable — A/B them on your own codebase; on Kunavo that's a one-line model swap.
Can I use all three through one API?
Yes — Kunavo is OpenAI-compatible at https://api.kunavo.com/v1. One key reaches Claude, GPT and Gemini plus image, video and audio, on one Stripe balance.