Pick Claude Sonnet 5 for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously or multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use. Pick Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol or ranked #2 on artificial analysis's independent gdpval agentic test, behind only claude opus 5. On a tight budget at scale, Grok 4.6 is the value pick.
Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) and Grok 4.6 (xAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Sonnet 5 is anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro. Grok 4.6 is xAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: Grok 4.6 is about 1.5× cheaper on input ($2/$6 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens) — modest, but it adds up at steady volume.
Context window: Claude Sonnet 5 holds 2× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 500K (~750 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 43 days (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 4.6
Provider
Anthropic (US)
xAI (US)
Released
June 30, 2026
August 12, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
500K (~750 pages)
Price (in/out)
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
$2/$6 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously: Claude Sonnet 5 — Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro — and it carries the larger 1M context.
Multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use: Claude Sonnet 5 — Grok 4.6 is comparatively weak here — coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced
Everyday professional and knowledge work: Claude Sonnet 5 — Claude Sonnet 5 lists everyday professional and knowledge work among its strengths; Grok 4.6 does not.
Frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol: Grok 4.6 — At $2/$6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5: Grok 4.6 — XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it runs cheaper at $2/$6 per 1M tokens.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol: Grok 4.6 — Claude Sonnet 5 is comparatively weak here — an updated tokenizer that can use 1.0-1.35x more tokens for the same text
Lowest cost at scale: Grok 4.6 — At $2/$6 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Claude Sonnet 5 — Its 1M window is about 2× larger than Grok 4.6's 500K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Grok 4.6 — At $2/$6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Claude Sonnet 5 — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously: Claude Sonnet 5 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol: Grok 4.6 — That is its strongest area.
Claude Sonnet 5: where it fits
Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro. Released June 30, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously, multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use, everyday professional and knowledge work, and long-document analysis and reasoning.
Its trade-offs are real: lower peak accuracy than Opus 4.8 on the hardest tasks, and an updated tokenizer that can use 1.0-1.35x more tokens for the same text. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Grok 4.6: where it fits
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Released August 12, 2026 by xAI, it is built for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol, ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5, $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, and 500K-token context; available same-day in Cursor and (two days later) GitHub Copilot.
Its trade-offs: coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced, parameter count is undisclosed, text and image input only - not a full multimodal model, and fast-moving target: xAI says Grok 4.7 is only weeks away. At $2 in / $6 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Grok 4.6 costs less per token; Claude Sonnet 5 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Sonnet 5 for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously, Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Sonnet 5 leans toward agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously while Grok 4.6 leans toward frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 is cheaper — $3/$15 per 1M tokens vs $2/$6 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.5× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 5 — 1M vs 500K, about 2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Sonnet 5, Grok 4.6 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 43 days after Claude Sonnet 5.
Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.6
Anthropic · US | xAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously or multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use. Pick Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol or ranked #2 on artificial analysis's independent gdpval agentic test, behind only claude opus 5. On a tight budget at scale, Grok 4.6 is the value pick.
Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) and Grok 4.6 (xAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Claude Sonnet 5 is anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro. Grok 4.6 is xAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Grok 4.6 is about 1.5× cheaper on input ($2/$6 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens) — modest, but it adds up at steady volume.
▸Context window: Claude Sonnet 5 holds 2× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 500K (~750 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 43 days (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 4.6
Provider
Anthropic (US)
xAI (US)
Released
June 30, 2026
August 12, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
500K (~750 pages)
Price (in/out)
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
$2/$6 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
No — API only
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously
Claude Sonnet 5
Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro — and it carries the larger 1M context.
Multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use
Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 4.6 is comparatively weak here — coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced
Everyday professional and knowledge work
Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 5 lists everyday professional and knowledge work among its strengths; Grok 4.6 does not.
Frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
At $2/$6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5
Grok 4.6
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it runs cheaper at $2/$6 per 1M tokens.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
Claude Sonnet 5 is comparatively weak here — an updated tokenizer that can use 1.0-1.35x more tokens for the same text
Lowest cost at scale
Grok 4.6
At $2/$6 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Claude Sonnet 5
Its 1M window is about 2× larger than Grok 4.6's 500K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Grok 4.6
At $2/$6 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Claude Sonnet 5
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously
→ Claude Sonnet 5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol
→ Grok 4.6
That is its strongest area.
Claude Sonnet 5: where it fits
Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet, with near-Opus-4.8 performance at Sonnet prices; the default model on Free and Pro. Released June 30, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously, multi-step coding, debugging, and tool use, everyday professional and knowledge work, and long-document analysis and reasoning.
Its trade-offs are real: lower peak accuracy than Opus 4.8 on the hardest tasks, and an updated tokenizer that can use 1.0-1.35x more tokens for the same text. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Grok 4.6: where it fits
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Released August 12, 2026 by xAI, it is built for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol, ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5, $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, and 500K-token context; available same-day in Cursor and (two days later) GitHub Copilot.
Its trade-offs: coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced, parameter count is undisclosed, text and image input only - not a full multimodal model, and fast-moving target: xAI says Grok 4.7 is only weeks away. At $2 in / $6 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Grok 4.6 costs less per token; Claude Sonnet 5 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — Claude Sonnet 5 for agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously, Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Claude Sonnet 5 leans toward agentic workflows that plan, use tools, and run autonomously while Grok 4.6 leans toward frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 is cheaper — $3/$15 per 1M tokens vs $2/$6 per 1M tokens, roughly 1.5× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 5 — 1M vs 500K, about 2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Sonnet 5, Grok 4.6 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 43 days after Claude Sonnet 5.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.