Both are xAI models. Grok 4.6 is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Grok 4.5 when a specific cost or latency profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Grok 4.5 and Grok 4.6 are both xAI models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Grok 4.5 is xAI's first coding-focused model — pitched as Opus-class but faster, more token-efficient, and cheaper, undercutting GPT-5.5-Codex. 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. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences
Context window: both advertise 500K (~750 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 35 days (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Grok 4.5
Grok 4.6
Provider
xAI (US)
xAI (US)
Released
July 8, 2026
August 12, 2026
Context window
500K (~750 pages)
500K (~750 pages)
Price (in/out)
$2/$6 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
Cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about GPT-5.5-Codex quality at roughly half the cost: Grok 4.5 — Grok 4.6 is comparatively weak here — coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced
Extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8: Grok 4.5 — Grok 4.5 lists extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8 among its strengths; Grok 4.6 does not.
In-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor: Grok 4.5 — Grok 4.5 lists in-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor 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 — 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 is the newer of the two.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5: Grok 4.6 — Grok 4.6 lists ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5 among its strengths; Grok 4.5 does not.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol: Grok 4.6 — Grok 4.5 is comparatively weak here — smaller 500K context (halved from the 1M generation), with pricing that doubles above 200K tokens
Which should you pick?
Anyone whose priority is cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about gpt-5.5-codex quality at roughly half the cost: Grok 4.5 — 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.
Grok 4.5: where it fits
XAI's first coding-focused model — pitched as Opus-class but faster, more token-efficient, and cheaper, undercutting GPT-5.5-Codex. Released July 8, 2026 by xAI, it is built for cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about GPT-5.5-Codex quality at roughly half the cost, extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8, in-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor, and top-tier placement on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
Its trade-offs are real: smaller 500K context (halved from the 1M generation), with pricing that doubles above 200K tokens, and eU launch delayed; no open weights. At $2 in / $6 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
Because Grok 4.5 and Grok 4.6 come from the same lab (xAI), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Grok 4.6 is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Grok 4.6 and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Frequently asked questions
Is Grok 4.5 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, Grok 4.5 leans toward cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about gpt-5.5-codex quality at roughly half the cost 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, Grok 4.5 or Grok 4.6?
They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 500K (~750 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Should I upgrade from Grok 4.5 to Grok 4.6?
Since both are xAI models, the newer one (Grok 4.6) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Grok 4.5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 35 days after Grok 4.5.
Grok 4.5 vs Grok 4.6
xAI · US | xAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Both are xAI models. Grok 4.6 is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Grok 4.5 when a specific cost or latency profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Grok 4.5 and Grok 4.6 are both xAI models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Grok 4.5 is xAI's first coding-focused model — pitched as Opus-class but faster, more token-efficient, and cheaper, undercutting GPT-5.5-Codex. 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. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: both advertise 500K (~750 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 35 days (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Grok 4.5
Grok 4.6
Provider
xAI (US)
xAI (US)
Released
July 8, 2026
August 12, 2026
Context window
500K (~750 pages)
500K (~750 pages)
Price (in/out)
$2/$6 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
Cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about GPT-5.5-Codex quality at roughly half the cost
Grok 4.5
Grok 4.6 is comparatively weak here — coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced
Extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8
Grok 4.5
Grok 4.5 lists extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8 among its strengths; Grok 4.6 does not.
In-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor
Grok 4.5
Grok 4.5 lists in-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor 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
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 is the newer of the two.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5
Grok 4.6
Grok 4.6 lists ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5 among its strengths; Grok 4.5 does not.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
Grok 4.5 is comparatively weak here — smaller 500K context (halved from the 1M generation), with pricing that doubles above 200K tokens
Which should you pick?
Anyone whose priority is cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about gpt-5.5-codex quality at roughly half the cost
→ Grok 4.5
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.
Grok 4.5: where it fits
XAI's first coding-focused model — pitched as Opus-class but faster, more token-efficient, and cheaper, undercutting GPT-5.5-Codex. Released July 8, 2026 by xAI, it is built for cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about GPT-5.5-Codex quality at roughly half the cost, extreme token efficiency — around 4x fewer output tokens per task than Opus 4.8, in-IDE coding, trained on real Cursor developer sessions and shipped natively in Cursor, and top-tier placement on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
Its trade-offs are real: smaller 500K context (halved from the 1M generation), with pricing that doubles above 200K tokens, and eU launch delayed; no open weights. At $2 in / $6 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
Because Grok 4.5 and Grok 4.6 come from the same lab (xAI), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Grok 4.6 is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Grok 4.6 and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Want both Grok 4.5 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, Grok 4.5 leans toward cheap, token-efficient agentic coding — about gpt-5.5-codex quality at roughly half the cost 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, Grok 4.5 or Grok 4.6?
They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 500K (~750 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Should I upgrade from Grok 4.5 to Grok 4.6?
Since both are xAI models, the newer one (Grok 4.6) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Grok 4.5 or Grok 4.6?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 35 days after Grok 4.5.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.