Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Opus 5.5

Gemini 4 Argon reached general availability on 13 Oct 2026 at an introductory $2 / $10 per 1M tokens. Claude Opus 5.5 lists at $4 / $20.

Facts checked Oct 20, 2026. Prices are US dollars per 1M tokens from each vendor's pricing page.

Our verdict

Gemini 4 Argon is the cheaper model only until 30 Nov 2026. From 1 Dec 2026 Google lists $4 / $20, which is exactly Claude Opus 5.5's price. After that the question is quality per dollar, and the independent Artificial Analysis index favours Claude Opus 5.5 (58 against 53, 1 Oct 2026 capture). Google reports 77.9% on the DeepSWE long-horizon coding benchmark and calls it a new state of the art; that is Google's own figure. Use the promo to test Gemini 4 Argon on your hardest coding task, but do not build a budget on the promotional rate.

Benchmarks measure test tasks, not your business. Run a real job through both models before you commit.

Side by side

	Gemini 4 Argon	Claude Opus 5.5
Lab	Google	Anthropic
List price per 1M tokens (input / output)	$2 / $10	$4 / $20
Scheduled price	From Dec 1, 2026: $4 / $20	-
Price notes	Introductory rate through 30 Nov 2026.	Cache reads $0.20 per 1M; fast mode $8 / $40.
Example job at list price	$4	$8
Context window	Not published	1,000,000 tokens
Released	Oct 13, 2026	Sep 22, 2026
Open weights	No	No
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index	53 (Oct 1, 2026 capture)at high effort	58 (Oct 1, 2026 capture)

1M tokens in and 200K tokens out. List price only: models write different amounts, so a finished job can cost more or less. (1,000,000 / 200,000)

Common questions

When does the Gemini 4 Argon price go up?

Google lists $2 in and $10 out per 1M tokens through 30 November 2026, then $4 and $20 from 1 December 2026.

Is Gemini 4 Argon better than Claude Opus 5.5?

On the independent Artificial Analysis index Opus 5.5 scores 58 and Argon 53 (1 Oct 2026 capture). Google reports 77.9% on DeepSWE for Argon, which is its own figure and not an independent result.

Is Gemini 4 Argon generally available?

Yes. Google lists gemini-4-argon as generally available in the Gemini API from 13 October 2026, after a 30 September announcement that first limited it to vetted cyber defenders.

Sources

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