Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs K-EXAONE-236B-A23B
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 58.0 to 26.2. K-EXAONE-236B-A23B is 5.7x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · LG AI Research · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 58.0 to 26.2, ranking #3 overall.
On price, K-EXAONE-236B-A23B is roughly 5.7x 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 58.0 and ranks #3 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and agents — 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 K-EXAONE-236B-A23B
- cost matters — it's about 5.7x 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 · 6 for K-EXAONE-236B-A23B
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and K-EXAONE-236B-A23Bdon'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 3.3x more expensive than K-EXAONE-236B-A23B ($0.60/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Sonnet 5.5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than K-EXAONE-236B-A23B ($1.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 5.5 is more expensive than K-EXAONE-236B-A23B.*
* 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 K-EXAONE-236B-A23B's 32,768 tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while K-EXAONE-236B-A23B is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude Sonnet 5.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas K-EXAONE-236B-A23B does not.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
K-EXAONE-236B-A23B
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 K-EXAONE-236B-A23B was released on 2025-12-31.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is 9 months newer than K-EXAONE-236B-A23B.
Sep 28, 2026
3 days ago
9mo newerDec 31, 2025
9 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Claude Sonnet 5.5 has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-06-01, while K-EXAONE-236B-A23B has a cutoff of 2025-10-01.
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 K-EXAONE-236B-A23B (2025-10-01).
Jun 2026
8 mo newerOct 2025
Provider Availability
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is available from Anthropic. K-EXAONE-236B-A23B is available from FriendliAI.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
K-EXAONE-236B-A23B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 5.5 and K-EXAONE-236B-A23B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs K-EXAONE-236B-A23B.