workhorse
Claude Sonnet 4 5 vs Grok 3
Side-by-side pricing, context window, features, and per-use-case verdict. Data sourced from LiteLLM, updated regularly.
Specifications
| Feature | Claude Sonnet 4 5 | Grok 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | anthropic | xai |
| Model ID | claude-sonnet-4-5 | xai/grok-3 |
| Input / 1M tokens | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $15.00 | $15.00 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.30 | $0.75 |
| Context window | 200kk tokens | 131kk tokens |
| Max output | 64kk tokens | 131kk tokens |
| Vision | ✅ | ⬜ |
| Function calling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prompt caching | ✅ | ✅ |
| Web search | ⬜ | ✅ |
| JSON schema | ✅ | ⬜ |
Monthly cost comparison
No cache discount applied — pure token costs at three usage scales.
| Scale | Claude Sonnet 4 5 | Grok 3 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 1M in / 0.2M out | $6.00 | $6.00 | Claude Sonnet 4 5 |
| Medium 10M in / 2M out | $60.00 | $60.00 | Claude Sonnet 4 5 |
| Large 100M in / 20M out | $600 | $600 | Claude Sonnet 4 5 |
Category winners
Cheapest input
Claude Sonnet 4 5
$3.00/M
Cheapest output
Claude Sonnet 4 5
$15.00/M
Larger context
Claude Sonnet 4 5
200kk tokens · 53% larger window
More features
Claude Sonnet 4 5
4 / 5 capabilities
Better for…
High-volume RAG & repeated context
$0.30/M cached input — prompt caching makes repeated context retrieval significantly cheaper
Claude Sonnet 4 5
Short interactions & high-throughput APIs
$15.00/M output — 0% cheaper on output at scale
Claude Sonnet 4 5
Long-document processing & large codebases
200k context window vs 131k — 53% larger context
Claude Sonnet 4 5
Agentic workflows & tool use
Supports 4 of 5 tracked capabilities (vision, function calling, caching, web search, JSON schema)
Claude Sonnet 4 5
Deep-dive on each model
Pricing data sourced from LiteLLM and refreshed regularly. Always verify with each provider's official pricing page before making business decisions.