Model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
Head-to-head evidence from 18 shared benchmark results across 5 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude Sonnet 5 #29 (Estimated); Gemini 3.6 Flash unranked (Not scored). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 3.6 Flash share 18 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 18 results are unique to Claude Sonnet 5; 1 to Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Updated July 21, 2026- Shared results
- 18
- Claude Sonnet 5 only
- 18
- Gemini 3.6 Flash only
- 1
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Treat this as a split decision. Claude Sonnet 5 makes more sense if its workflow fits your team better; Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better fit if agentic is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 18 shared benchmark results across 5 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 3.6 Flash finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.
Claude Sonnet 5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $1.50 input / $7.50 output per 1M tokens for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude Sonnet 5 | Δ | Gemini 3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic | Claude Sonnet 581.9 | Margin→ 1.1 | Gemini 3.6 Flash83.0 |
| Coding | Claude Sonnet 576.7 | MarginNo overlap | Gemini 3.6 FlashNot measured |
| Knowledge | Claude Sonnet 557.4 | MarginNo overlap | Gemini 3.6 FlashNot measured |
| Multimodal | Claude Sonnet 588.3 | MarginNo overlap | Gemini 3.6 FlashNot measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
OSWorld-Verified
AgenticA 81.2%B 83%Winner: Gemini 3.6 FlashΔ 1.8OSWorld-Verified: Claude Sonnet 5 scored 81.2%; Gemini 3.6 Flash scored 83%. Gemini 3.6 Flash wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude Sonnet 5$2 input / $10 output | Gemini 3.6 Flash$1.5 input / $7.5 output | Gemini 3.6 Flash has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude Sonnet 5Not available | Gemini 3.6 FlashNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude Sonnet 5Not available | Gemini 3.6 FlashNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude Sonnet 51M | Gemini 3.6 Flash1M | Listed context windows are equal. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticGemini 3.6 Flash wins13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 80.4% | — | Not comparable |
| BrowseCompSource | 84.7% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/ toolsSource | 57.4% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 81.2% | 83% | Gemini 3.6 Flash leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 1607 | 1421 | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 46.7% | 38.7% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 55.4% | 46.1% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA BriefcaseSource | 1388 | 961 | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA AutomationBenchSource | 39.2% | — | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | 44.7% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | 90.1% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | 28.2% | 24.5% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| aaTerminalBench21Source | 80.5% | 77.5% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
Coding10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 85.2% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 63.2% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | 78.3% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE MultimodalSource | 28.1% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 80.4% | — | Not comparable |
| FrontierCode 1.1 MainSource | 42.7% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench32Source | 61.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | 71.5% | 69.2% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 53.6% | 52.7% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| deepSweSource | — | 49% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| HLESource | 57.4% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 43.2% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 53.4% | 50.1% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 91.1% | 92.8% | Gemini 3.6 Flash leads |
| AA-HLESource | 39.6% | 38.3% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 15.3% | 23.5% | Gemini 3.6 Flash leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 38.3% | 50.2% | Gemini 3.6 Flash leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 37.3% | 53.5% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 3.6 Flash are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Claude Sonnet 5 or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 83 versus 81.9. Inside this category, AA Briefcase is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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