Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
Anthropic · US | Google · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Haiku 4.5 for fastest claude model or near-frontier coding for its tier — 73.3% on swe-bench verified. Pick Gemini 4 Carbon for ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60) or google-reported 88.2% on sec-bench pro and 54.8% on exploitgym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation. On a tight budget at scale, Claude Haiku 4.5 is the value pick.
Claude Haiku 4.5 (Anthropic) and Gemini 4 Carbon (Google) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Haiku 4.5 is anthropic's fastest, most compact model — built for speed and volume. Gemini 4 Carbon is google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: Claude Haiku 4.5 is about 2× cheaper on input ($1/$5 per 1M tokens vs $2/$10 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: Gemini 4 Carbon holds 5× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 200K (~300 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Gemini 4 Carbon is the newer model by about 13 months (released October 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude Haiku 4.5 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic (US) | Google (US) |
| Released | October 15, 2025 | October 28, 2026 |
| Context window | 200K (~300 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $1/$5 per 1M tokens | $2/$10 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, image, audio, video, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | 73.3% | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Fastest Claude model
Claude Haiku 4.5
Gemini 4 Carbon is comparatively weak here — no public API model listing yet, so most users cannot call it today
Near-frontier coding for its tier — 73.3% on SWE-Bench Verified
Claude Haiku 4.5
Anthropic's fastest, most compact model — built for speed and volume — and it runs cheaper at $1/$5 per 1M tokens.
Low-latency, high-volume API calls
Claude Haiku 4.5
At $1/$5 per 1M tokens it undercuts Gemini 4 Carbon ($2/$10 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60)
Gemini 4 Carbon
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation
Gemini 4 Carbon
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet — and it is the newer of the two.
Google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching
Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon lists google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching among its strengths; Claude Haiku 4.5 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
Claude Haiku 4.5
At $1/$5 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Gemini 4 Carbon
Its 1M tokens window is about 5× larger than Claude Haiku 4.5's 200K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Claude Haiku 4.5
At $1/$5 per 1M tokens it undercuts Gemini 4 Carbon, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Gemini 4 Carbon
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is fastest claude model
→ Claude Haiku 4.5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60)
→ Gemini 4 Carbon
That is its strongest area.
Claude Haiku 4.5: where it fits
Anthropic's fastest, most compact model — built for speed and volume. Released October 15, 2025 by Anthropic, it is built for fastest Claude model, near-frontier coding for its tier — 73.3% on SWE-Bench Verified, low-latency, high-volume API calls, and cheapest Claude tier at $1/$5.
Its trade-offs are real: smallest context in the family (200K), and not for deep reasoning. At $1 in / $5 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Gemini 4 Carbon: where it fits
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. Released October 28, 2026 by Google, it is built for ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60), google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation, google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching, and introductory $2/$10 per million tokens, matching Gemini 4 Argon, with cached input 95% off.
Its trade-offs: limited release: rolling out to a subset of cyber defenders, then trusted partners via the Fairwind Program, with no date for developers or consumers, no public API model listing yet, so most users cannot call it today, introductory pricing rises to $4/$20 afterward, and Google has not said when that happens, and google has not published context or modality specs - the 1M window and modalities shown come from Artificial Analysis and Vals. At $2 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Haiku 4.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Claude Haiku 4.5 costs less per token; Gemini 4 Carbon holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Haiku 4.5 for fastest claude model, Gemini 4 Carbon for ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60). Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Haiku 4.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Claude Haiku 4.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Gemini 4 Carbon, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Haiku 4.5 leans toward fastest claude model while Gemini 4 Carbon leans toward ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Haiku 4.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Claude Haiku 4.5 is cheaper — $1/$5 per 1M tokens vs $2/$10 per 1M tokens, roughly 2× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 4 Carbon — 1M tokens vs 200K, about 5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Haiku 4.5 and Gemini 4 Carbon together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 4 Carbon and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Haiku 4.5 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Carbon — released October 28, 2026, about 13 months after Claude Haiku 4.5.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.