Claude vs Gemini

We asked three Claude models and two Gemini models 36 harder prompts on 8 November 2026 and 36 everyday prompts the day before, twice each. The best of each, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Claude Sonnet 5.5, finished less than one answer apart on the harder set.

Updated 8 November 2026

Compare your own question

What the names mean

Claude is Anthropic's chat app and its family of models. Gemini is Google's chat app and its family of models.

We tested the models themselves through OpenRouter, and whichai.chat sends your messages the same way. Features of the Claude and Gemini apps aren't part of the comparison.

How Claude and Gemini models scored on harder prompts

The average score across 36 harder prompts asked twice, so 72 answers per model.

Scores on 36 harder prompts, 8 November 2026
Model	Score	Full marks	Typical reply time	Cost of all answers
Gemini 3.8 Flash Google	98.9%	70 of 72	12.1 s	$0.823
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic	98.6%	70 of 72	5.5 s	$0.524
Gemini 4 Argon Google	98.2%	68 of 72	5.7 s	$0.293
Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic	97.2%	70 of 72	6.8 s	$1.07
Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic	92.2%	65 of 72	5.3 s	$0.041

Gemini 3.8 Flash Google 98.9%

Full marks

70 of 72

Reply time

12.1 s

Cost

$0.823
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic 98.6%

Full marks

70 of 72

Reply time

5.5 s

Cost

$0.524
Gemini 4 Argon Google 98.2%

Full marks

68 of 72

Reply time

5.7 s

Cost

$0.293
Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic 97.2%

Full marks

70 of 72

Reply time

6.8 s

Cost

$1.07
Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic 92.2%

Full marks

65 of 72

Reply time

5.3 s

Cost

$0.041

Claude Opus 5.5 returned no answer twice, which counted as 0.

Scored with Raq.com's AI Benchmarker on 8 November 2026. One answer is worth about 1.4 points, so Gemini 3.8 Flash and Claude Sonnet 5.5, the best of each, are less than one answer apart.

What we found

Claude Sonnet 5.5 lost marks on one prompt only, writing bullets that each had to be one word longer than the last, which it missed on both tries. Gemini 3.8 Flash also lost marks on one prompt, a decision record written from an email thread, where it left out who had agreed to do what.

Claude Opus 5.5 got full marks on all 70 answers it gave but returned nothing on both tries at reversing a string of random characters, and those two count as 0. Claude Haiku 5.5 scored lowest of the five at 92.2%: it gave 16 as the minimum age for the National Lottery on both tries, when it's 18, and sorted a word list in the wrong order on both.

Claude Haiku 5.5 gave the quickest typical reply of the five, at 5.3 seconds, and its answers cost the least. Gemini 3.8 Flash was the slowest at 12.1 seconds.

Where the best of each lost marks

Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash scored highest for their companies. These are the prompts where either dropped points, with the reason.

Prompts where Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 3.8 Flash lost marks
Prompt	Claude Sonnet 5.5	Gemini 3.8 Flash
Five bullets that grow by a word Instructions. Right answer: 5 bullets of 3 to 7 words	50% Missed: 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 words	100%
Decision record from an email thread Writing	100%	60% Judge: The four-line format, decision and open mezzanine item are correct, but the owner line omits Owen Whitehead's responsibilities to lead the check and send the sheets, and the deadline omits Janet as the recipient of the count sheets.

Five bullets that grow by a word

Instructions. Right answer: 5 bullets of 3 to 7 words

Claude Sonnet 5.5

50%

Missed: 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 words

Gemini 3.8 Flash

100%
Decision record from an email thread

Writing

Claude Sonnet 5.5

100%

Gemini 3.8 Flash

60%

Judge: The four-line format, decision and open mezzanine item are correct, but the owner line omits Owen Whitehead's responsibilities to lead the check and send the sheets, and the deadline omits Janet as the recipient of the count sheets.

On everyday prompts

Our first round, on 7 November 2026: 36 everyday prompts asked twice, with the same models and settings.

Scores on 36 everyday prompts, 7 November 2026
Model	Score	Full marks	Typical reply time	Cost of all answers
Gemini 3.8 Flash Google	98.7%	67 of 72	5.7 s	$0.164
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic	98.6%	68 of 72	2.0 s	$0.176
Gemini 4 Argon Google	98.6%	67 of 72	3.9 s	$0.120
Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic	97.7%	68 of 72	2.4 s	$0.013
Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic	97.6%	64 of 72	4.0 s	$0.481

Gemini 3.8 Flash Google 98.7%

Full marks

67 of 72

Reply time

5.7 s

Cost

$0.164
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic 98.6%

Full marks

68 of 72

Reply time

2.0 s

Cost

$0.176
Gemini 4 Argon Google 98.6%

Full marks

67 of 72

Reply time

3.9 s

Cost

$0.120
Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic 97.7%

Full marks

68 of 72

Reply time

2.4 s

Cost

$0.013
Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic 97.6%

Full marks

64 of 72

Reply time

4.0 s

Cost

$0.481

All five scored between 97.6% and 98.7%. Gemini 3.8 Flash and Claude Sonnet 5.5, the best of each, finished a fraction of a point apart.

The 36 harder prompts

Six kinds of task. Checked answers were marked automatically, coding answers were run against hidden tests, and the judge marked the writing against a written scheme.

Maths and logic

Cheapest way to fill a café order Checked
Loan balance after 18 payments Checked
Days between two dates Checked
Multiply a 13-digit number by a 10-digit one Checked
Five-digit numbers with no repeated neighbours Checked
Four dice that total 14 Checked
Count the letter r in a passage Checked

Instructions

Filter, sort and format a word list Checked
A sentence from A to O Checked
A product update with six rules Checked
Five bullets that grow by a word Checked
A paragraph of exactly 47 words Checked
Reverse a string of random characters Checked

Long documents

Lease: the terms after the variation letter Checked
Lease: rent, guarantee and limits Checked
Supplier account: VAT and balances Checked
Meeting minutes: who does what Checked
Timesheet: hours, overtime and pay Checked
Bank statement: balance and totals Checked

UK questions

Christmas bank holidays in 2027 Checked
Belfast or Newcastle Checked
Minimum age for the National Lottery Checked
Statutory redundancy pay Checked
Registering a birth in Scotland Checked
Default speed limit in Welsh towns Checked
Saturday hours for a 15-year-old Checked

Coding

Parse a duration such as 1h 30m Tests
Evaluate an arithmetic expression Tests
Compare two version numbers Tests
Parse CSV with quoted fields Tests
Word-wrap text to a width Tests

Writing

Reply to a refund request with limits Judge
Explain interest rates to a 12-year-old Judge
Job advert from rough notes Judge
Decision record from an email thread Judge
Fix six errors and change nothing else Judge

Claude and Gemini models on whichai.chat

The models whichai.chat recommends from each company today, with figures from the live model catalogue.

Recommended Anthropic and Google models on whichai.chat
Model	Company	Context window	Reads images
Claude Sonnet 5.5	Anthropic	1M tokens	Yes
Claude Opus 5.5	Anthropic	1M tokens	Yes
Gemini 3.8 Flash	Google	1M tokens	Yes
Gemini 4 Argon	Google	1M tokens	Yes

The list follows the recommended models in the app and changes when new ones are released.

Run the comparison yourself

Add a Claude and a Gemini model

Start a chat and pick one of each from the model picker, with GPT or others alongside if you want, up to ten in a chat.
Ask your own question

Use a real draft, question or file. Tick Web Search when the answer needs current information.
Compare the answers

Each model's answer has its own tab. Tick Consensus Summary for one model to read them all and write a single comparison.
Keep the one you trust

Choose which answers your next message builds on and carry on from there.

Questions

Is Claude or Gemini better?

In our harder test on 8 November 2026, Gemini 3.8 Flash scored 98.9% and Claude Sonnet 5.5 scored 98.6%, less than one answer apart, which is a tie for practical purposes. Claude Sonnet 5.5 answered faster, 5.5 seconds against 12.1.

Do I need Claude and Gemini subscriptions?

No. whichai.chat runs on a Raq.com account, and answers from every model use the AI allowance in your free trial or plan.

Can I bring my Claude conversations?

Yes. Upload the data export from Claude under Import chats, and your past conversations appear beside the new ones.

More comparisons

Got a question you can’t settle?

Ask it once and see what comes back.

Compare answers Ask twenty models Test your own prompts

Sign-up goes through Raq.com.