Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2
Grok-2 leads the LLM Stats Score 11.8 to 2.4. Grok-2 is 1.5x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-2 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 11.8 to 2.4, ranking #237 overall.
In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-2 wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Grok-2 is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude 3 Sonnet also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3 Sonnet
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose Grok-2
- overall performance matters — it scores 11.8 and ranks #237 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 5 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Claude 3 Sonnet · 8 for Grok-2
Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-2 is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Grok-2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than Grok-2 ($2.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than Grok-2 ($10.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Sonnet is more expensive than Grok-2.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude 3 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Grok-2's 128,000 tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Grok-2 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3 Sonnet
Grok-2
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Grok-2 was released on 2024-08-13.
Grok-2 is 6 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.
Feb 29, 2024
2.5 years ago
Aug 13, 2024
2.0 years ago
5mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Grok-2 is available from xAI.
Claude 3 Sonnet
Grok-2
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2.