Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Grok 4.6
Model Markets Rankings
Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency
| Ranking | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v1.2 | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort | #13 of 2267.6 score |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 36-model eligible cohort | #18 of 36$0.097 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.0 | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort | #8 of 2256.6 score |
Ranks come from the current complete eligible cohorts. Green highlights appear only when both models are ranked in the same metric. Missing required inputs remain unranked, and the three dimensions are not collapsed into an overall winner.
Benchmark Performance
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-2aa739d957fc · verified_score · leader | 63.6773% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Thinking 32K) | 87.50100% of row best · percent · Grok 4.6 (Medium) |
| ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-b5cb5ec6e8c7 · verified_score · leader | 13.6120% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.5 (Thinking 32K) | 67.08100% of row best · percent · Grok 4.6 (XHigh) |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,433.9599% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-high-32k; 95% CI [1431.13754052, 1436.75329939]; votes 81031; rank 79 | 1,443.75100% of row best · rating · grok-4.6-high; 95% CI [1433.62910542, 1453.86294509]; votes 3453; rank 55 |
| ToneBench2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d · overall_score · leader | 77.2589% of row best · points · Claude Sonnet 4.5 · 2,441 output tokens / case | 86.61100% of row best · points · Grok 4.6 · 15,575 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 0 benchmark wins | 3 benchmark winsOverall lead |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Technical Differences
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | xAI |
| Family | Claude 4 | Grok 4 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2025-09-29 | Unknown |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-01-01 | 2026-02-01 |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 200K | 500K |
| 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, tools |
14 comparable fields · 8 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
Claude Sonnet 4.5 Capabilities
Grok 4.6 Capabilities
Internal Comparison Graph
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
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Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text |
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Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Grok 4.6 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.6, 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 4.6?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $3.00 and Grok 4.6 is $2.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.6 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $15.00 and Grok 4.6 is $6.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.6 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6?+
Grok 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.5 supports 200K and Grok 4.6 supports 500K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6?+
Grok 4.6 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 4 protocol-matched benchmarks from 3 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is not marked open weight; Grok 4.6 is not marked open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.6 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is documented with image input; Grok 4.6 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.5 is 64K and Grok 4.6 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Grok 4.6 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Grok 4.6: 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 4.6?+
Claude Sonnet 4.5 has 1 sourced provider route; Grok 4.6 has 1, a tie.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Grok 4.6?+
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.