Claude vs GPT: Which AI Model Should You Choose for Your Chatbot?

Introduction

When you set up an AI chatbot with OpenClaw, one of the first decisions you make is which language model to use. The two dominant options in 2026 are OpenAI GPT-4o and Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Both are excellent models, but they have different strengths that make them more suitable for certain applications.

In this article, we compare Claude and GPT on the points that truly matter for chatbot use: response quality, cost per conversation, response speed, and how they handle sensitive or nuanced topics.

Response Quality and Style

GPT-4o delivers consistent, well-structured responses suitable for a wide range of applications. The model is particularly strong at following complex instructions and generating structured output like JSON or tables. For customer service bots that need to give short, direct answers, GPT-4o is often the best choice.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet distinguishes itself through more nuanced and cautious responses. The model is better at recognizing ambiguity in questions and more frequently indicates when it is uncertain about something. For applications where accuracy matters more than speed — such as legal or medical information — Claude often performs better.

In practice, OpenClaw users find that the difference for standard customer service applications is small. The biggest difference is in tone: GPT-4o is more direct and concise, Claude is more careful and explanatory.

Cost and Speed

GPT-4o costs approximately $2.50 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. GPT-4o-mini is much cheaper at $0.15 per million input tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet sits at $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. Claude 3 Haiku is the budget model at $0.25 per million input tokens.

In terms of speed, GPT-4o generally has lower latency, especially for short responses. The time-to-first-token — the time until the first word appears — averages 200 to 400 milliseconds for GPT-4o and 300 to 600 milliseconds for Claude 3.5 Sonnet. For chatbot applications where speed is crucial, this gives GPT-4o a slight edge.

Safety and Content Policy

Anthropic designed Claude with a strong emphasis on safety. The model more frequently refuses to generate potentially harmful or misleading content and is stricter in adhering to ethical guidelines. This can be an advantage if your bot is publicly accessible and you want to prevent misuse.

GPT-4o offers more flexibility in what the model generates, but therefore also requires more attention to your system prompt to prevent unwanted behavior. OpenClaw provides content filter options for both models and the ability to block specific topics through prompt configuration.

Conclusion

There is no objectively "best" model. For most chatbot applications, GPT-4o-mini is the most cost-effective choice with excellent quality. If you are willing to pay more for nuanced responses, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is a strong option. The advantage of OpenClaw is that you can easily switch and test — try both models for a week and see which one best fits your specific application.