Claude vs Gemini for coding

Every limit is published. Paid plans also have a monthly fair-use limit on AI cost: Pro $7.50, Max $20, Ultra $42, Studio $85. Using every message on your plan at typical sizes stays under it; very large messages and heavy research use it faster. Every limit, explained.

Coding: Claude Haiku 5.5 passed 5 of 5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash 5 of 5. Their median waits were close, 3.9 s against 4.2 s. Claude Haiku 5.5 cost 4.3× less, $0.0023 against $0.0098 for the 5 replies. Their replies ran to about the same length.

1. 1. Turn a title into a URL slug

   Everyday. Claude: 6 of 6 models passed, Claude Haiku 5.5 the cheapest at $0.0001 · Gemini: 2 of 2 models passed, Gemini 3.8 Flash the cheapest at $0.0009. The prompt in full.

   Claude Haiku 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash both passed this one. Claude Haiku 5.5 answered sooner (1.5 s to 4.2 s), and Claude Haiku 5.5's reply cost less ($0.0001 to $0.0009); Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote 112 tokens of reply, Gemini 3.8 Flash 128.

   • Claude Haiku 5.5

     Passed: All 7 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function slugify(title) {
       return String(title)
         .normalize("NFD")
         .replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, "")
         .toLowerCase()
         .replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, "-")
         .replace(/^-+|-+$/g, "");
     }
     ```

     672 tokens in, 112 out · 1.5 s · $0.0001 · 1 message on Pro · answered by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via Anthropic · October 7, 2026

   • Gemini 3.8 Flash

     Passed: All 7 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function slugify(title) {
       return title
         .normalize('NFD')                  // Decompose combined graphemes into base letters + diacritical marks
         .replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, '')   // Remove all diacritical marks
         .toLowerCase()
         .replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-')       // Replace runs of non-alphanumeric characters with a single hyphen
         .replace(/^-+|-+$/g, '');          // Trim leading and trailing hyphens
     }
     ```

     514 tokens in, 128 out · 4.2 s · $0.0009 · 1 message on Pro · answered by google/gemini-3.8-flash via Google · September 27, 2026

2. 2. Parse a duration like “1h 30m”

   Everyday. Claude: 6 of 6 models passed, Claude Haiku 5.5 the cheapest at $0.0005 · Gemini: 2 of 2 models passed, Gemini 3.8 Flash the cheapest at $0.0010. The prompt in full.

   Claude Haiku 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash both passed this one. Gemini 3.8 Flash answered sooner (2.3 s to 5.4 s), and Claude Haiku 5.5's reply cost less ($0.0005 to $0.0010); Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote 180 tokens of reply, Gemini 3.8 Flash 176.

   • Claude Haiku 5.5

     Passed: All 10 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function parseDuration(text) {
       if (typeof text !== 'string') return null;
     
       const m = /^\s*(?:(\d+)h)?\s*(?:(\d+)m)?\s*(?:(\d+)s)?\s*$/.exec(text);
       if (!m || m.slice(1).every(v => v === undefined)) return null;
     
       const [, h = 0, mi = 0, s = 0] = m;
       return Number(h) * 3600 + Number(mi) * 60 + Number(s);
     }
     ```

     627 tokens in, 868 out (688 of them reasoning) · 5.4 s · $0.0005 · 1 message on Pro · answered by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via Anthropic · October 7, 2026

   • Gemini 3.8 Flash

     Passed: All 10 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function parseDuration(text) {
       if (typeof text !== 'string') return null;
       const match = text.trim().match(/^(?:(\d+)h)?\s*(?:(\d+)m)?\s*(?:(\d+)s)?$/);
       if (!match || (!match[1] && !match[2] && !match[3])) {
         return null;
       }
     
       const hours = match[1] ? Number(match[1]) : 0;
       const minutes = match[2] ? Number(match[2]) : 0;
       const seconds = match[3] ? Number(match[3]) : 0;
     
       return hours * 3600 + minutes * 60 + seconds;
     }
     ```

     498 tokens in, 176 out · 2.3 s · $0.0010 · 1 message on Pro · answered by google/gemini-3.8-flash via Google · September 27, 2026

3. 3. Merge overlapping intervals

   Everyday. Claude: 6 of 6 models passed, Claude Haiku 5.5 the cheapest at $0.0002 · Gemini: 2 of 2 models passed, Gemini 3.8 Flash the cheapest at $0.0012. The prompt in full.

   Claude Haiku 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash both passed this one. Claude Haiku 5.5 answered sooner (1.3 s to 3.8 s), and Claude Haiku 5.5's reply cost less ($0.0002 to $0.0012); Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote 185 tokens of reply, Gemini 3.8 Flash 229.

   • Claude Haiku 5.5

     Passed: All 7 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function mergeIntervals(intervals) {
       const sorted = intervals
         .map(([start, end]) => [start, end])
         .sort((a, b) => a[0] - b[0] || a[1] - b[1]);
     
       const merged = [];
       for (const [start, end] of sorted) {
         const last = merged[merged.length - 1];
         if (last && start <= last[1]) {
           last[1] = Math.max(last[1], end);
         } else {
           merged.push([start, end]);
         }
       }
       return merged;
     }
     ```

     622 tokens in, 185 out · 1.3 s · $0.0002 · 1 message on Pro · answered by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via Anthropic · October 7, 2026

   • Gemini 3.8 Flash

     Passed: All 7 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function mergeIntervals(intervals) {
       if (!intervals || intervals.length <= 1) {
         return intervals ? intervals.map(interval => [...interval]) : [];
       }
     
       // Clone and sort by start time, breaking ties by end time
       const sorted = intervals
         .map(interval => [...interval])
         .sort((a, b) => a[0] - b[0] || a[1] - b[1]);
     
       const merged = [sorted[0]];
     
       for (let i = 1; i < sorted.length; i++) {
         const current = sorted[i];
         const lastMerged = merged[merged.length - 1];
     
         // Overlapping or touching intervals
         if (current[0] <= lastMerged[1]) {
           lastMerged[1] = Math.max(lastMerged[1], current[1]);
         } else {
           merged.push(current);
         }
       }
     
       return merged;
     }
     ```

     477 tokens in, 229 out · 3.8 s · $0.0012 · 1 message on Pro · answered by google/gemini-3.8-flash via Google · September 27, 2026

4. 4. Evaluate an arithmetic expression, no eval

   Hard. Claude: 5 of 6 models passed, Claude Haiku 5.5 the cheapest at $0.0006 · Gemini: 2 of 2 models passed, Gemini 3.8 Flash the cheapest at $0.0045. The prompt in full.

   Claude Haiku 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash both passed this one. Claude Haiku 5.5 answered sooner (3.9 s to 6.7 s), and Claude Haiku 5.5's reply cost less ($0.0006 to $0.0045); Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote 1,074 tokens of reply, Gemini 3.8 Flash 1,070.

   • Claude Haiku 5.5

     Passed: All 15 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function evaluate(expression) {
       const s = String(expression);
       const tokens = [];
       let i = 0;
       while (i < s.length) {
         const c = s[i];
         if (c === ' ' || c === '\t' || c === '\n' || c === '\r') { i++; continue; }
         if ((c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c === '.') {
           let j = i;
           while (j < s.length && ((s[j] >= '0' && s[j] <= '9') || s[j] === '.')) j++;
           const text = s.slice(i, j);
           if (!/^(\d+\.?\d*|\.\d+)$/.test(text)) throw new Error(`Invalid number "${text}"`);
           tokens.push({ type: 'num', value: Number(text) });
           i = j;
           continue;
         }
         if ('+-*/^()'.includes(c)) {
           tokens.push({ type: c });
           i++;
           continue;
         }
         throw new Error(`Unexpected character "${c}"`);
       }
     
       let pos = 0;
       const peek = () => tokens[pos] ? tokens[pos].type : null;
       const next = () => tokens[pos++];
     
       // expr := term (('+'|'-') term)*
       function parseExpr() {
         let value = parseTerm();
         while (peek() === '+' || peek() === '-') {
           const op = next().type;
           const rhs = parseTerm();
           value = op === '+' ? value + rhs : value - rhs;
         }
         return value;
       }
     
       // term := unary (('*'|'/') unary)*
       function parseTerm() {
         let value = parseUnary();
         while (peek() === '*' || peek() === '/') {
           const op = next().type;
           const rhs = parseUnary();
           value = op === '*' ? value * rhs : value / rhs;
         }
         return value;
       }
     
       // unary := '-' unary | power
       function parseUnary() {
         if (peek() === '-') {
           next();
           return -parseUnary();
         }
         return parsePower();
       }
     
       // power := primary ('^' unary)?   (right-associative; exponent may be signed)
       function parsePower() {
         const base = parsePrimary();
         if (peek() === '^') {
           next();
           const exp = parseUnary();
           return Math.pow(base, exp);
         }
         return base;
       }
     
       // primary := number | '(' expr ')'
       function parsePrimary() {
         const t = tokens[pos];
         if (!t) throw new Error('Unexpected end of expression');
         if (t.type === 'num') {
           pos++;
           return t.value;
         }
         if (t.type === '(') {
           pos++;
           const value = parseExpr();
           if (peek() !== ')') throw new Error('Expected ")"');
           pos++;
           return value;
         }
         throw new Error(`Unexpected token "${t.type}"`);
       }
     
       if (tokens.length === 0) throw new Error('Empty expression');
       const result = parseExpr();
       if (pos !== tokens.length) throw new Error(`Unexpected token "${tokens[pos].type}"`);
       return result;
     }
     ```

     763 tokens in, 1,074 out · 3.9 s · $0.0006 · 1 message on Pro · answered by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via Anthropic · October 7, 2026

   • Gemini 3.8 Flash

     Passed: All 15 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function evaluate(expression) {
       // Tokenize the expression
       const tokens = [];
       let i = 0;
       const n = expression.length;
     
       while (i < n) {
         const ch = expression[i];
     
         if (/\s/.test(ch)) {
           i++;
           continue;
         }
     
         if (/[0-9.]/.test(ch)) {
           let start = i;
           let dotCount = 0;
           while (i < n && /[0-9.]/.test(expression[i])) {
             if (expression[i] === '.') dotCount++;
             i++;
           }
           if (dotCount > 1) {
             throw new Error(`Invalid number format at index ${start}`);
           }
           const numStr = expression.slice(start, i);
           if (numStr === '.') {
             throw new Error(`Invalid single dot at index ${start}`);
           }
           tokens.push({ type: 'NUMBER', value: parseFloat(numStr) });
           continue;
         }
     
         if ('+-*/^()'.includes(ch)) {
           tokens.push({ type: ch, value: ch });
           i++;
           continue;
         }
     
         throw new Error(`Unexpected character '${ch}' at index ${i}`);
       }
     
       let pos = 0;
     
       function peek() {
         return tokens[pos];
       }
     
       function consume(expectedType) {
         const token = tokens[pos];
         if (!token || (expectedType && token.type !== expectedType)) {
           throw new Error(`Unexpected token at position ${pos}`);
         }
         pos++;
         return token;
       }
     
       // Grammar with precedence:
       // Expr    -> AddSub
       // AddSub  -> MulDiv (('+' | '-') MulDiv)*
       // MulDiv  -> Unary (('*' | '/') Unary)*
       // Unary   -> '-' Unary | Power
       // Power   -> Primary ('^' (Unary | Power))?   -- right associative, handles 2^-1 and -2^2
       // Primary -> NUMBER | '(' Expr ')'
     
       function parseExpr() {
         return parseAddSub();
       }
     
       function parseAddSub() {
         let left = parseMulDiv();
         while (pos < tokens.length && (tokens[pos].type === '+' || tokens[pos].type === '-')) {
           const op = consume().type;
           const right = parseMulDiv();
           left = op === '+' ? left + right : left - right;
         }
         return left;
       }
     
       function parseMulDiv() {
         let left = parseUnary();
         while (pos < tokens.length && (tokens[pos].type === '*' || tokens[pos].type === '/')) {
           const op = consume().type;
           const right = parseUnary();
           if (op === '/') {
             left = left / right;
           } else {
             left = left * right;
           }
         }
         return left;
       }
     
       function parseUnary() {
         if (pos < tokens.length && tokens[pos].type === '-') {
           consume('-');
           return -parseUnary();
         }
         if (pos < tokens.length && tokens[pos].type === '+') {
           consume('+');
           return parseUnary();
         }
         return parsePower();
       }
     
       function parsePower() {
         let left = parsePrimary();
         if (pos < tokens.length && tokens[pos].type === '^') {
           consume('^');
           // Right-hand side allows unary minus (e.g. 2^-1) or another power
           const right = parseUnary();
           return Math.pow(left, right);
         }
         return left;
       }
     
       function parsePrimary() {
         const token = peek();
         if (!token) {
           throw new Error('Unexpected end of input');
         }
     
         if (token.type === 'NUMBER') {
           consume('NUMBER');
           return token.value;
         }
     
         if (token.type === '(') {
           consume('(');
           const val = parseExpr();
           consume(')');
           return val;
         }
     
         throw new Error(`Unexpected token '${token.value}' at position ${pos}`);
       }
     
       if (tokens.length === 0) {
         throw new Error('Empty expression');
       }
     
       const result = parseExpr();
     
       if (pos < tokens.length) {
         throw new Error(`Unexpected token at position ${pos}`);
       }
     
       return result;
     }
     ```

     587 tokens in, 1,070 out · 6.7 s · $0.0045 · 1 message on Pro · answered by google/gemini-3.8-flash via Google · September 27, 2026

5. 5. Parse CSV with quoted fields

   Hard. Claude: 5 of 6 models passed, Claude Haiku 5.5 the cheapest at $0.0008 · Gemini: 2 of 2 models passed, Gemini 3.8 Flash the cheapest at $0.0022. The prompt in full.

   Claude Haiku 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash both passed this one. Gemini 3.8 Flash answered sooner (5.0 s to 8.1 s), and Claude Haiku 5.5's reply cost less ($0.0008 to $0.0022); Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote 516 tokens of reply, Gemini 3.8 Flash 480.

   • Claude Haiku 5.5

     Passed: All 8 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function parseCsv(text) {
       const rows = [];
       if (text === '') return rows;
     
       let row = [];
       let field = '';
       let inQuotes = false;
       let fieldStart = true; // true only at the very beginning of a field
       let i = 0;
       const n = text.length;
     
       while (i < n) {
         const c = text[i];
     
         if (inQuotes) {
           if (c === '"') {
             if (text[i + 1] === '"') {
               field += '"';
               i += 2;
             } else {
               inQuotes = false;
               i++;
             }
           } else {
             field += c;
             i++;
           }
           continue;
         }
     
         if (c === '"' && fieldStart) {
           inQuotes = true;
           fieldStart = false;
           i++;
           continue;
         }
     
         if (c === ',') {
           row.push(field);
           field = '';
           fieldStart = true;
           i++;
           continue;
         }
     
         if (c === '\n' || c === '\r') {
           row.push(field);
           rows.push(row);
           row = [];
           field = '';
           fieldStart = true;
           if (c === '\r' && text[i + 1] === '\n') i += 2;
           else i++;
           continue;
         }
     
         field += c;
         fieldStart = false;
         i++;
       }
     
       // Flush the last row unless the text ended with a line break
       if (row.length > 0 || field !== '' || !fieldStart) {
         row.push(field);
         rows.push(row);
       }
     
       return rows;
     }
     ```

     670 tokens in, 1,464 out (948 of them reasoning) · 8.1 s · $0.0008 · 1 message on Pro · answered by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 via Anthropic · October 7, 2026

   • Gemini 3.8 Flash

     Passed: All 8 tests passed.

     ```javascript
     function parseCsv(text) {
       if (text === '') return [];
     
       // Remove a single trailing newline if present
       if (text.endsWith('\r\n')) {
         text = text.slice(0, -2);
       } else if (text.endsWith('\n')) {
         text = text.slice(0, -1);
       }
     
       if (text === '') return [];
     
       const rows = [];
       let currentRow = [];
       let currentField = '';
       let inQuotes = false;
       let isStartOfField = true;
     
       for (let i = 0; i < text.length; i++) {
         const char = text[i];
     
         if (inQuotes) {
           if (char === '"') {
             if (text[i + 1] === '"') {
               currentField += '"';
               i++; // skip escaped quote
             } else {
               inQuotes = false;
             }
           } else {
             currentField += char;
           }
         } else {
           if (isStartOfField && char === '"') {
             inQuotes = true;
             isStartOfField = false;
           } else if (char === ',') {
             currentRow.push(currentField);
             currentField = '';
             isStartOfField = true;
           } else if (char === '\r' && text[i + 1] === '\n') {
             currentRow.push(currentField);
             rows.push(currentRow);
             currentRow = [];
             currentField = '';
             isStartOfField = true;
             i++; // skip '\n'
           } else if (char === '\n') {
             currentRow.push(currentField);
             rows.push(currentRow);
             currentRow = [];
             currentField = '';
             isStartOfField = true;
           } else {
             currentField += char;
             isStartOfField = false;
           }
         }
       }
     
       currentRow.push(currentField);
       rows.push(currentRow);
     
       return rows;
     }
     ```

     515 tokens in, 480 out · 5.0 s · $0.0022 · 1 message on Pro · answered by google/gemini-3.8-flash via Google · September 27, 2026

• Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: 5 of 5 each; Claude Fable 5.1 answered 1.9× sooner at the median and Gemini 3.1 Pro cost 2.2× less.

• Claude Fable 5.1 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: 5 of 5 each; Gemini 3.8 Flash answered 1.3× sooner at the median and cost 21.8× less.

• Claude Opus 5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: 5 of 5 each; Claude Opus 5.5 answered 1.4× sooner at the median and cost 1.1× less. Claude Opus 5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), on every job.

• Claude Opus 5.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: 5 of 5 each; Gemini 3.8 Flash answered 1.7× sooner at the median and cost 8.7× less.

• Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: 5 of 5 each; Claude Sonnet 5.5 answered 5.2× sooner at the median and cost 3.1× less. Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), on every job.

• Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: 5 of 5 each; Claude Sonnet 5.5 answered 2.1× sooner at the median and Gemini 3.8 Flash cost 3.2× less.

• Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: 5 of 5 each; Claude Sonnet 5 answered 3.8× sooner at the median and cost 1.9× less. Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), on every job.

• Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: 5 of 5 each; Claude Sonnet 5 answered 1.6× sooner at the median and Gemini 3.8 Flash cost 5.2× less. Claude Sonnet 5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash, on every job.

• Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: Claude Haiku 4.5 3 of 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro 5; Claude Haiku 4.5 answered 4.4× sooner at the median and cost 7.1× less. Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), on every job.

• Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: Claude Haiku 4.5 3 of 5, Gemini 3.8 Flash 5; Claude Haiku 4.5 answered 1.8× sooner at the median and Gemini 3.8 Flash cost 1.4× less. Claude Haiku 4.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash, on every job.

• Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro: 5 of 5 each; Claude Haiku 5.5 answered 2.6× sooner at the median and cost 43.0× less.

• Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: 5 of 5 each; they took about as long and Claude Haiku 5.5 cost 4.3× less.

Every Claude and Gemini reply above was checked the same way as every other model's, by the rules published with the prompts: how the coding prompts are scored, and each one in full.

• The lineups

  Claude: 6 models, Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Haiku 4.5, and Claude Haiku 5.5. Gemini: 2 models, Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) and Gemini 3.8 Flash.

• Price per message

  The least expensive Claude model is Claude Haiku 5.5 (60 messages a day on Pro); the least expensive Gemini model is Gemini 3.8 Flash (250 messages a month on Pro).

• Context window

  Claude goes up to 1M tokens (Claude Fable 5.1); Gemini up to 1.05M tokens (Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview)).

• Images and PDFs

  Every model here reads images. Every model here takes a PDF as a whole file.

• On the Free plan

  Free's one-time trial of 5 messages covers Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Haiku 4.5, Claude Haiku 5.5, Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), and Gemini 3.8 Flash, and Claude Opus 5.5 for 1 message. Paid plans have every model, with messages every month.

In llmwise, a message to Claude or Gemini goes to the model's maker, or through OpenRouter when llmwise can't reach the maker directly. The Privacy Policy has the details.