Model Comparison

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

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

Claude 3 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Grok-2 mini (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 mini is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro). Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Claude 3 Sonnet if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output

Choose Grok-2 mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-2 mini is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies output context (200,000 tokens).

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

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2 mini 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 mini

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 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13.

Grok-2 mini is 6 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.3 years ago

Grok-2 mini

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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
xAI
Higher GPQA score (51.0% vs 40.4%)
Higher HumanEval score (85.7% vs 73.0%)
Higher MATH score (73.0% vs 43.1%)
Higher MMLU score (86.2% vs 79.0%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (72.0% vs 56.8%)

Detailed Comparison

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

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Grok-2 mini.

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

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Grok-2 mini 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 mini 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 mini scores DocVQA: 93.2%, MMLU: 86.2%, HumanEval: 85.7%, MATH: 73.0%, MMLU-Pro: 72.0%.

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

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

Who makes Claude 3 Sonnet and Grok-2 mini?

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

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