Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok-3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) and Grok-3 (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and xAI. Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1m-token context window, while Grok-3 ships a 131k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads by 7.4 pts. On pricing, Grok-3 costs $0.80/1M input tokens versus $3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Grok-3 is ~275% cheaper at $0.80/1M; pay for Claude Sonnet 4.6 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok-3 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 1m | 131k |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 6 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 7 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 7.4 points.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 uniquely exposes Code execution, Computer use, and Parallel agents in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Grok-3 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.40/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Grok-3 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 4.6
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Grok-3
$1,240
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Chutes AI
Estimated monthly gap: $4,910. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Grok-3 is $12.60/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Code execution, Computer use, and Parallel agents before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $12.60/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Code execution, Computer use, and Parallel agents in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2025-02-17 |
| Context window | 1m | 131k |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | 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 | 2025-08 | 2025-04 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3/1M tokens | $0.80/1M tokens |
| Output price | $15/1M tokens | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | Yes | No |
| Parallel agents | Yes | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok-3 |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 87.3 | 79.9 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 89.9 | 84.6 |
| AIME 2025 | 94.0 | 93.3 |
| LiveCodeBench | 80.0 | 79.4 |
| Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding | 83.6 | 78.0 |
| HumanEval | 98.0 | 94.5 |
| Chatbot Arena | 1459.0 | 1405.0 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.