Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.6
Anthropic's balanced flagship against Grok 4.6, at the same tier of the market.
What the numbers say
- Grok 4.6 is about 1.7x cheaper on output tokens (72.0 vs 120 credits per 1M).
- Claude Sonnet 5 takes noticeably more context: 1M vs 500K tokens.
- Grok 4.6 is the newer release (August 2026 vs June 2026).
Derived from the live registry Zeplik routes and bills against. Credits: 1 credit = $0.10, computed from the raw provider rate with a 1.20x margin.
Side by side
Claude Sonnet 5
Anthropic
Sonnet 5 is Anthropic's most capable Sonnet-class model, with frontier performance across coding, agents, and professional work.
- Provider
- Anthropic
- Context window
- 1M tokens
- Input price
- 24.0 credits / 1M tokens ($2.00 raw)
- Output price
- 120 credits / 1M tokens ($10.00 raw)
- Vision (image input)
- Yes
- Tool calling
- Yes
- Extended reasoning
- No
Best for
- Hard problems where answer quality matters more than cost: strategy, analysis, difficult writing
- Very long documents and codebases: a 1M-token window fits entire books or repositories in one conversation
- Working with images: screenshots, charts, photos and scanned documents alongside text
- Tool use and agents: reliably calls functions, so it can search, run skills and drive workflows
Grok 4.6
SpaceXAI
Grok 4.6 is a model from SpaceXAI with frontier performance on coding, knowledge work, and STEM. It is succeeded by [Grok 4.7](/x-ai/grok-4.7).
- Provider
- SpaceXAI
- Context window
- 500K tokens
- Input price
- 24.0 credits / 1M tokens ($2.00 raw)
- Output price
- 72.0 credits / 1M tokens ($6.00 raw)
- Vision (image input)
- Yes
- Tool calling
- Yes
- Extended reasoning
- No
Best for
- Hard problems where answer quality matters more than cost: strategy, analysis, difficult writing
- Very long documents and codebases: a 500K-token window fits entire books or repositories in one conversation
- Working with images: screenshots, charts, photos and scanned documents alongside text
- Tool use and agents: reliably calls functions, so it can search, run skills and drive workflows
Try both on Zeplik
The honest answer to most model debates is to run your own prompt on both. Zeplik puts Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 in the same chat, so you can switch mid-conversation and compare answers on the work you actually do.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6?
- Grok 4.6 is about 1.7x cheaper on output tokens (72.0 vs 120 credits per 1M). Claude Sonnet 5 takes noticeably more context: 1M vs 500K tokens. Grok 4.6 is the newer release (August 2026 vs June 2026).
- Is Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6 cheaper?
- Grok 4.6 is cheaper: 72.0 credits per million output tokens against 120. 1 credit = $0.10, computed from the raw provider rate with a 1.20x margin.
- Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.6?
- Claude Sonnet 5, at 1M tokens against 500K.
- Can I use both Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 on Zeplik?
- Yes. Zeplik is a multi-model chat, so both sit behind one account and you can switch between them mid-conversation to compare answers on your own prompt.
- Do Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 4.6 need a paid plan?
- Both need a paid plan (Plus or above). Usage is then billed in credits from your monthly allowance.
Related comparisons
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs Claude Sonnet 5The current Anthropic tier decision: Opus 5.5 costs twice Sonnet 5 for an identical million-token window, so the question is entirely about depth per turn.
- Grok 4.7 vs Grok 4.6The newest Grok against the one it replaces: twenty percent cheaper on both input and output, with the same 500,000-token window.
- GPT-6 Sol vs Claude Sonnet 5Priced identically at $2 in and $10 out, five percent apart on context: the closest like-for-like comparison in the catalogue, and a genuine toss-up on price alone.
- GPT-6 Astra vs Grok 4.6The GPT-6 flagship against xAI's current top model, at roughly eight times the output price and twice the context.
- Grok 4.7 vs Claude Sonnet 5Grok 4.7 answers for roughly half Sonnet 5's output price; Sonnet 5 answers with twice the context. The trade is unusually clean.
- GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok 4.6The GPT flagship against xAI's current top model.
Explore Zeplik
- 467 AI skillsReady-to-run expert methods that run on Claude Sonnet 5, Grok 4.6 or any other model.
- 997 integrationsConnect Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Notion and hundreds more so the assistant can work in your apps.
- Simple pricingPlus, Pro and Max plans with a monthly credit allowance that works across every model.