Pick Claude Opus 5 for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1 or agentic coding — within 0.5% of fable 5's peak cursorbench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (anthropic's figures). Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window or long video and document analysis. On a tight budget at scale, Gemini 3.1 Pro is the value pick.
Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) and Gemini 3.1 Pro (Google) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Opus 5 is anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak. Gemini 3.1 Pro is a 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: Gemini 3.1 Pro is about 2.5× cheaper on input ($2/$12 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
Context window: 1M vs 1M — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: Claude Opus 5 is the newer model by about 5 months (released July 24, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Claude Opus 5
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Google (US)
Released
July 24, 2026
February 19, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$2/$12 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, audio, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
26.3%
Who wins what
Frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — Anthropic reports it more than doubling Opus 4.8 on Frontier-Bench v0.1: Claude Opus 5 — Anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak — and it is the newer of the two.
Agentic coding — within 0.5% of Fable 5's peak CursorBench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (Anthropic's figures): Claude Opus 5 — Gemini 3.1 Pro is comparatively weak here — superseded within Google's own line by the newer 3.5/3.6 Flash releases for cost-sensitive work
Computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost: Claude Opus 5 — Claude Opus 5 lists computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost among its strengths; Gemini 3.1 Pro does not.
Full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1M-token window: Gemini 3.1 Pro — A 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window — and it runs cheaper at $2/$12 per 1M tokens.
Long video and document analysis: Gemini 3.1 Pro — Gemini 3.1 Pro lists long video and document analysis among its strengths; Claude Opus 5 does not.
Agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2): Gemini 3.1 Pro — Gemini 3.1 Pro lists agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2) among its strengths; Claude Opus 5 does not.
Lowest cost at scale: Gemini 3.1 Pro — At $2/$12 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Gemini 3.1 Pro — At $2/$12 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Gemini 3.1 Pro — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1: Claude Opus 5 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window: Gemini 3.1 Pro — That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 5: where it fits
Anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak. Released July 24, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — Anthropic reports it more than doubling Opus 4.8 on Frontier-Bench v0.1, agentic coding — within 0.5% of Fable 5's peak CursorBench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (Anthropic's figures), computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost, and a native effort setting (low, medium, high, xhigh, max) that trades token cost against capability on a single model.
Its trade-offs are real: behind Mythos 5 on cybersecurity exploitation and biology research, by Anthropic's own account, all launch benchmarks are Anthropic-reported and not yet independently reproduced, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, so head-to-head coding comparisons rely on Anthropic's own benchmark suite, and fast mode's throughput costs double the base price ($10/$50 per 1M). At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
Gemini 3.1 Pro: where it fits
A 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window. Released February 19, 2026 by Google, it is built for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1M-token window, long video and document analysis, agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2), and broad multimodal understanding across formats.
Its trade-offs: long-context recall drops sharply past 256K (26.3% on MRCR v2 at 1M), premium price per token at $2/$12, and superseded within Google's own line by the newer 3.5/3.6 Flash releases for cost-sensitive work. At $2 in / $12 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Gemini 3.1 Pro costs less per token; Gemini 3.1 Pro holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Opus 5 for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1, Gemini 3.1 Pro for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 5 leans toward frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1 while Gemini 3.1 Pro leans toward full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro?
Gemini 3.1 Pro is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $2/$12 per 1M tokens, roughly 2.5× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M vs 1M is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro 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 Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro?
Claude Opus 5 — released July 24, 2026, about 5 months after Gemini 3.1 Pro.
Claude Opus 5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro
Anthropic · US | Google · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Opus 5 for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1 or agentic coding — within 0.5% of fable 5's peak cursorbench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (anthropic's figures). Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window or long video and document analysis. On a tight budget at scale, Gemini 3.1 Pro is the value pick.
Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic) and Gemini 3.1 Pro (Google) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Opus 5 is anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak. Gemini 3.1 Pro is a 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Gemini 3.1 Pro is about 2.5× cheaper on input ($2/$12 per 1M tokens vs $5/$25 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
▸Context window: 1M vs 1M — within a few percent of each other, so treat this as a tie and test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: Claude Opus 5 is the newer model by about 5 months (released July 24, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Claude Opus 5
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Google (US)
Released
July 24, 2026
February 19, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)
$5/$25 per 1M tokens
$2/$12 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, audio, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
26.3%
Who wins what
Frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — Anthropic reports it more than doubling Opus 4.8 on Frontier-Bench v0.1
Claude Opus 5
Anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak — and it is the newer of the two.
Agentic coding — within 0.5% of Fable 5's peak CursorBench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (Anthropic's figures)
Claude Opus 5
Gemini 3.1 Pro is comparatively weak here — superseded within Google's own line by the newer 3.5/3.6 Flash releases for cost-sensitive work
Computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost
Claude Opus 5
Claude Opus 5 lists computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost among its strengths; Gemini 3.1 Pro does not.
Full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1M-token window
Gemini 3.1 Pro
A 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window — and it runs cheaper at $2/$12 per 1M tokens.
Long video and document analysis
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Gemini 3.1 Pro lists long video and document analysis among its strengths; Claude Opus 5 does not.
Agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2)
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Gemini 3.1 Pro lists agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2) among its strengths; Claude Opus 5 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
Gemini 3.1 Pro
At $2/$12 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Gemini 3.1 Pro
At $2/$12 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Opus 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Gemini 3.1 Pro
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1
→ Claude Opus 5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window
→ Gemini 3.1 Pro
That is its strongest area.
Claude Opus 5: where it fits
Anthropic's July 2026 flagship at $5/$25 with a 1M window and an effort dial — near-frontier quality pitched on cost per task, not raw peak. Released July 24, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — Anthropic reports it more than doubling Opus 4.8 on Frontier-Bench v0.1, agentic coding — within 0.5% of Fable 5's peak CursorBench 3.2 score at half the cost per task (Anthropic's figures), computer use — surpasses Fable 5's best OSWorld 2.0 result at just over a third of the cost, and a native effort setting (low, medium, high, xhigh, max) that trades token cost against capability on a single model.
Its trade-offs are real: behind Mythos 5 on cybersecurity exploitation and biology research, by Anthropic's own account, all launch benchmarks are Anthropic-reported and not yet independently reproduced, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, so head-to-head coding comparisons rely on Anthropic's own benchmark suite, and fast mode's throughput costs double the base price ($10/$50 per 1M). At $5 in / $25 out per million tokens, it sits in the premium price band.
Gemini 3.1 Pro: where it fits
A 1M-token multimodal workhorse — huge breadth across text, image, audio and video, but recall fades deep in the window. Released February 19, 2026 by Google, it is built for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1M-token window, long video and document analysis, agentic reasoning (high ARC-AGI-2), and broad multimodal understanding across formats.
Its trade-offs: long-context recall drops sharply past 256K (26.3% on MRCR v2 at 1M), premium price per token at $2/$12, and superseded within Google's own line by the newer 3.5/3.6 Flash releases for cost-sensitive work. At $2 in / $12 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Gemini 3.1 Pro costs less per token; Gemini 3.1 Pro holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Opus 5 for frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1, Gemini 3.1 Pro for full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro 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.
Is Claude Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Opus 5 leans toward frontier reasoning at lower cost per task — anthropic reports it more than doubling opus 4.8 on frontier-bench v0.1 while Gemini 3.1 Pro leans toward full multimodal input — text, image, audio and video in one 1m-token window, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro?
Gemini 3.1 Pro is cheaper — $5/$25 per 1M tokens vs $2/$12 per 1M tokens, roughly 2.5× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Effectively neither — 1M vs 1M is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Claude Opus 5 and Gemini 3.1 Pro together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro 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 Opus 5 or Gemini 3.1 Pro?
Claude Opus 5 — released July 24, 2026, about 5 months after Gemini 3.1 Pro.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.