Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4.3
Benchmark Performance
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Agent Arenaagent-2026-08-31-011508720696 · outcome_score · leader | 0.95100% of row best · score · Claude Sonnet 4.6; 95% CI [-0.31540788, 2.21833799]; sessions 38385; observations 1371137; rank 31 | -18.8180% of row best · score · Grok 4.3; 95% CI [-20.43612107, -17.19188295]; sessions 82745; observations 1299547; rank 55 |
| LMArena Search Arenasearch-2026-08-24-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,221.23100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6-search; 95% CI [1216.39472071, 1226.06821163]; votes 134905; rank 7 | 1,164.8095% of row best · rating · grok-4.3; 95% CI [1159.64698972, 1169.95391272]; votes 91483; rank 23 |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,458.01100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1454.41608210, 1461.60383515]; votes 66343; rank 32 | 1,397.9796% of row best · rating · grok-4.3; 95% CI [1394.22069381, 1401.72787538]; votes 65024; rank 141 |
| LMArena Vision Arenavision-2026-08-27-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,282.25100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1275.84615489, 1288.65223369]; votes 25610; rank 25 | 1,227.7796% of row best · rating · grok-4.3; 95% CI [1221.16111143, 1234.37137614]; votes 20787; rank 65 |
| LiveBench2026-06-25 · overall · leader | 77.11100% of row best · percent · claude-sonnet-4-6-thinking-auto-medium-effort · 13,226 output tokens / case | 69.2790% of row best · percent · grok-4.3 · 11,184 output tokens / case |
| ToneBench2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d · overall_score · leader | 83.63100% of row best · points · Claude Sonnet 4.6 · 2,525 output tokens / case | 74.9190% of row best · points · Grok 4.3 (high) · 5,154 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 6 benchmark winsOverall lead | 0 benchmark wins |
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 4.6 | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | xAI |
| Family | Claude 4 | Grok 4 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2026-06-17 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-08-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 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), Deepinfra (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools |
14 comparable fields · 6 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Capabilities
Grok 4.3 Capabilities
Internal Comparison Graph
Related Comparisons
| A | Pair | B | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | family variantsimage, text |
Grok 4.3xAI | vs | Grok 4.5xAI | family variantsimage, text |
Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | family variantsimage, text |
Claude Opus 4.7Anthropic | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | family variantsimage, text |
Grok 4.3xAI | vs | family variantsimage, text | |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic | family variantsimage, text |
Grok 4.3xAI | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | family variantsimage, text |
Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic | vs | Grok 4.3xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Opus 4.7Anthropic | vs | Grok 4.3xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Qwen3.7 FlashQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  GPT-5.4OpenAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | GPT-5.1OpenAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4.3 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 or Grok 4.3?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $3.00 and Grok 4.3 is $1.25 per million tokens, so Grok 4.3 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 or Grok 4.3?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 1,000,000 and Grok 4.3 is 1,000,000.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 6 protocol-matched benchmarks from 3 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not marked open weight; Grok 4.3 is not marked open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.3 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 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 4.6 or Grok 4.3?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 128,000 and Grok 4.3 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.3 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6: 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 4.6 or Grok 4.3?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 2 sourced provider routes; Grok 4.3 has 1, so Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.6 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.