Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Grok 4
Claude Sonnet 4.5 (2025) and Grok 4 (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and xAI. Claude Sonnet 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while Grok 4 ships a 256k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Grok 4 leads by 1 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is safer overall; choose Grok 4 when coding workflow support matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $2.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 8 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 3 shared | MMLU PRO leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 0.5 points.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Grok 4 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 1 points.
- Grok 4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Grok 4 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.50/1M tokens.
- Grok 4 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Grok 4 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude Sonnet 4.5
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
Grok 4
$1,625
Cheapest tracked route/tier: xAI Console
Estimated monthly gap: $4,525. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, and Replicate API; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Grok 4 is $12.50/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Grok 4 adds Code execution in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, Replicate API, and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $12.50/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-09-29 | 2025-07-09 |
| Context window | 200k | 256k |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Weights | Not released | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
| $1.25/1M tokens |
| Output price |
| $2.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 86.0 | 87.0 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.2 | 76.7 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 83.4 | 87.5 |
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.