Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 2
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Claude Sonnet 4.6 specs · Grok 2 specs- PriceTie
Neither model publishes per-token API pricing.
- Context windowClaude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesTie
Both handle text, vision.
- OpennessTie
Both are closed-weight, API-only.
On balance Claude Sonnet 4.6 edges ahead, winning 1 of 5 categories against Grok 2's 0. Neither model publishes per-token API pricing. Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K, 1.6× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text, vision), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both are closed-weight, API-only.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the newer of the two, released 18 months after Grok 2, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is usually picked for coding llm and code review workloads, while Grok 2 sees more deployments in chatbots. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | xAI |
| Released | Jan 2026 | Aug 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Context window | 200K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | Pricing not published | Pricing not published |
| Output · 1M | Pricing not published | Pricing not published |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day, vs ,
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs ,
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs ,
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6Pricing unavailable
- Grok 2Pricing unavailable
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 fits when…
- Excellent quality-cost ratio
- Strong for code review and writing
- Reliable tool-use
- Long-context tasks, handles 200K tokens vs 128K for Grok 2.
Grok 2 fits when…
- Free on X Premium
- Real-time data
Consider Claude Opus 4.7
Anthropic's mid-2026 flagship, ahead on SWE-bench, agent reliability, and writing quality.
Frequently asked
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 2 cheaper?
Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.Which has the larger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts 200K tokens vs 128K for Grok 2.Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 2 better for coding?
Both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 2 are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.When were Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 2 released?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 was released by Anthropic on 2026-01-20. Grok 2 was released by xAI on 2024-08-13.
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