Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4.5
At a Glance
| Compare | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | Grok 4.5xAI |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #24 of 4660.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | #25 of 4660.1 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #31 of 44$0.198 per LiveBench case | #15 of 44$0.063 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #31 of 3847.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | #11 of 3859.2 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $2.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $15.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $6.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,000K | 500K |
| 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 4.6 | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-ba05d69f6453 · verified_score · leader | 86.5099% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.6 (High) | 87.17100% of row best · percent · Grok 4.5 (Medium) |
| ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-6c676fa3e9af · verified_score · leader | 60.42100% of row best · percent · Claude Sonnet 4.6 (High) | 52.6487% of row best · percent · Grok 4.5 (Medium) |
| LMArena Agent Arenaagent-2026-09-15-d25aabda0010 · outcome_score · leader | -1.5296% of row best · score · Claude Sonnet 4.6; 95% CI [-2.63863180, -0.39612153]; sessions 39452; observations 1444102; rank 31 | 2.92100% of row best · score · Grok 4.5; 95% CI [1.93207740, 3.90928463]; sessions 38146; observations 1942877; rank 19 |
| LMArena Document Arenadocument-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,482.24100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1476.36427265, 1488.10617859]; votes 57813; rank 11 | 1,451.9698% of row best · rating · grok-4.5; 95% CI [1443.26182849, 1460.65626012]; votes 4965; rank 26 |
| LMArena Search Arenasearch-2026-08-24-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,221.23100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6-search; 95% CI [1216.39472071, 1226.06821163]; votes 134905; rank 7 | 1,212.6599% of row best · rating · grok-4.5; 95% CI [1205.78347274, 1219.50889748]; votes 31505; rank 8 |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,458.26100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1454.67519650, 1461.85096774]; votes 66208; rank 35 | 1,450.1399% of row best · rating · grok-4.5; 95% CI [1445.44268767, 1454.81726995]; votes 30103; rank 45 |
| LMArena Vision Arenavision-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,282.72100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-4-6; 95% CI [1276.36460283, 1289.07266013]; votes 25552; rank 27 | 1,288.54100% of row best · rating · grok-4.5; 95% CI [1280.47745270, 1296.60872281]; votes 8355; rank 24 |
| LiveBench2026-06-25 · overall · leader | 77.1196% of row best · percent · claude-sonnet-4-6-thinking-auto-medium-effort · 13,226 output tokens / case | 80.01100% of row best · percent · grok-4.5 · 10,517 output tokens / case |
| ToneBench2026-09-11-10-task-4ef099199c9c · overall_score · unverified | 83.63100% of row best · points · Claude Sonnet 4.6 · 18,675 output tokens / case | 82.2398% of row best · points · Grok 4.5 · 2,688 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 3 ties | 2 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.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | xAI |
| Family | Claude 4 | Grok 4 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.5 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.5 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2026-07-16 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-08-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000K | 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), Deepinfra (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools |
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Capabilities
Grok 4.5 Capabilities
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Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4.5 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.5, 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 4.5?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $3.00 and Grok 4.5 is $2.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.5 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $15.00 and Grok 4.5 is $6.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.5 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1,000K and Grok 4.5 supports 500K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5?+
Grok 4.5 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 8 protocol-matched benchmarks from 3 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: unsupported. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not marked open weight; Grok 4.5 is not marked open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.5 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is documented with image input; Grok 4.5 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 128K and Grok 4.5 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.5 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Grok 4.5: 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 4.5?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 2 sourced provider routes; Grok 4.5 has 1, so Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.5?+
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.