Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Grok-3 Mini
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 58.1 to 31.3. Grok-3 Mini is 11.4x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 58.1 to 31.3, ranking #3 overall.
On price, Grok-3 Mini is roughly 11.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 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 Sonnet 5.5
- overall performance matters — it scores 58.1 and ranks #3 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- cost matters — it's about 11.4x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
47 reported for Claude Sonnet 5.5 · 4 for Grok-3 Mini
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Grok-3 Minidon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 5.5 is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Grok-3 Mini support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Grok-3 Mini
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 Sonnet 5.5 was released on 2026-09-28, while Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 20 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.
Sep 28, 2026
1 days ago
1.6yr newerFeb 17, 2025
1.6 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Claude Sonnet 5.5 has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-06-01, while Grok-3 Mini has a cutoff of 2024-11-17.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 has more recent training data (up to 2026-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Grok-3 Mini (2024-11-17).
Jun 2026
1.6 yr newerNov 2024
Provider Availability
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is available from Anthropic. Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Grok-3 Mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Grok-3 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Grok-3 Mini.