Claude or GPT: which is better for code in 2026?

In 2026, Claude Sonnet 4.5 is generally preferred by developers over GPT-4o for code, for three reasons:

(1) it produces better-structured code with useful comments and no unnecessary verbosity;

(2) it has fewer hallucinations about APIs and libraries (correct function signatures, valid imports);

(3) it handles long codebases better thanks to its 200K-token context window. GPT-4o is still excellent and has an edge in certain cases: visual/CSS code generation, ChatGPT Canvas integration, and plugin ecosystem (Cursor, GitHub Copilot benefit from both models). The choice also depends on budget: Claude Sonnet is more expensive ($3 input vs $2.50 for GPT-4o, $15 output vs $10). For a freelance dev, testing both on a real task is the best approach. Platforms like Ask Aurel let you switch between the two per query, with no subscription.