Model Comparison

Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2Which is better in 2026?

Grok-2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-2 is 1.5x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2 — which is better?

Claude 3 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Grok-2 (by xAI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

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.

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.

Choose Claude 3 Sonnet if…

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window

Choose Grok-2 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

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.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Grok-2 costs less

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
xAI
Grok-2
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$10.00
Best providerxAI
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

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.

Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
xAI
Grok-2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

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

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok-2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok-2

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.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.3 years ago

Grok-2

Aug 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

5mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Grok-2 is available from xAI.

Claude 3 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Grok-2

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $10.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
xAI
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher GPQA score (56.0% vs 40.4%)
Higher HumanEval score (88.4% vs 73.0%)
Higher MATH score (76.1% vs 43.1%)
Higher MMLU score (87.5% vs 79.0%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (75.5% vs 56.8%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
xAI
Grok-2

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2.

Which is better, Claude 3 Sonnet or Grok-2?

Grok-2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Grok-2 is made by xAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3 Sonnet compare to Grok-2 in benchmarks?

Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%. Grok-2 scores DocVQA: 93.6%, HumanEval: 88.4%, MMLU: 87.5%, MATH: 76.1%, MMLU-Pro: 75.5%.

Is Claude 3 Sonnet cheaper than Grok-2?

Grok-2 is 1.5x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Grok-2 costs $2.00/M input and $10.00/M output via xai.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2?

Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Grok-2 supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 128K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $2.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2?

Claude 3 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and Grok-2 is developed by xAI.

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