Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Grok 4.3
At a Glance
| Compare | Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | Grok 4.3xAI |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #36 of 4627.7 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing LiveBench · full-core range 18.5–51.8 | #40 of 4616.6 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 11.1–44.4 |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort | #7 of 44$0.028 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort | #33 of 3846.0 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 43.3–59.9 |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $1.25Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $15.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $2.50Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 200K | 1,000K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Search Arenasearch-2026-08-24-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,158.4699% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-5-search; 95% CI [1153.41447529, 1163.49714967]; votes 127378; rank 24 | 1,164.80100% of row best · rating · grok-4.3; 95% CI [1159.64698972, 1169.95391272]; votes 91483; rank 23 |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,433.94100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-high-32k; 95% CI [1431.13982742, 1436.74901697]; votes 80980; rank 81 | 1,397.7397% of row best · rating · grok-4.3; 95% CI [1394.01930088, 1401.44639527]; votes 66801; rank 145 |
| ToneBench2026-09-11-10-task-4ef099199c9c · overall_score · unverified | 77.25100% of row best · points · Claude Sonnet 4.5 · 7,415 output tokens / case | 74.9197% of row best · points · Grok 4.3 (high) · 5,154 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 1 benchmark winNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | xAI |
| Family | Claude 4 | Grok 4 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.3 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.3 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2025-09-29 | 2026-06-17 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-01-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 200K | 1,000K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | Unknown | Unknown |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Provider access | Anthropic (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools |
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Capabilities
Grok 4.3 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
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Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | family variantsimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Grok 4.3 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.3, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $3.00 and Grok 4.3 is $1.25 per million tokens, so Grok 4.3 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $15.00 and Grok 4.3 is $2.50 per million tokens, so Grok 4.3 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
Grok 4.3 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200K and Grok 4.3 supports 1,000K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: An overall winner requires at least two decisive benchmarks from at least two original publishers.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is not marked open weight; Grok 4.3 is not marked open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.3 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is documented with image input; Grok 4.3 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is 64K and Grok 4.3 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.3 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Grok 4.3: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 has 1 sourced provider route; Grok 4.3 has 1, a tie.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.3?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.