Model comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 4.3
Head-to-head evidence from 16 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude Sonnet 4.6 #32 (Supported); Grok 4.3 #31 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 4.3 share 16 comparable benchmark results. 3 of 8 categories are comparable. 17 results are unique to Claude Sonnet 4.6; 9 to Grok 4.3.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 16
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 only
- 17
- Grok 4.3 only
- 9
- Comparable categories
- 3 / 8
Pick Grok 4.3 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Claude Sonnet 4.6 only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 16 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 3 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Grok 4.3 has the cleaner BenchAlign overall profile here, landing at 65.1 versus 65.07. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
Grok 4.3's sharpest advantage is in multimodal & grounded, where it averages 78.1 against 77.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is HLE, 49% to 35%. Claude Sonnet 4.6 does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $3.00 input / $15.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $1.25 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens for Grok 4.3. That is roughly 6.0x on output cost alone. Grok 4.3 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Grok 4.3 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 200K for Claude Sonnet 4.6.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Δ | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Claude Sonnet 4.666.0 | Margin← 23.6 | Grok 4.342.4 |
| Coding | Claude Sonnet 4.669.1 | Margin← 21.8 | Grok 4.347.3 |
| Multimodal | Claude Sonnet 4.677.4 | Margin→ 0.7 | Grok 4.378.1 |
| Agentic | Claude Sonnet 4.665.2 | MarginNo overlap | Grok 4.3Not measured |
| Math | Claude Sonnet 4.626.4 | MarginNo overlap | Grok 4.3Not measured |
| Inst. Following | Claude Sonnet 4.6Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Grok 4.381.3 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude Sonnet 4.6$3 input / $15 output | Grok 4.3$1.25 input / $2.5 output | Grok 4.3 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude Sonnet 4.644 tok/s | Grok 4.3209 tok/s | Grok 4.3 has the higher measured throughput. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude Sonnet 4.61.48 s | Grok 4.312.36 s | Claude Sonnet 4.6 reaches the first token sooner. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude Sonnet 4.6200K | Grok 4.31M | Grok 4.3 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 59.1% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 72.1% | — | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | 67.8% | — | Not comparable |
| CyberGymSource | 65.2% | — | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 79.5% | 97.7% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| Gert LabsSource | 62.92% | 43.86% | Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads |
| OSWorld 2.0Source | 8.3% | — | Not comparable |
| JobBenchSource | 36.9% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 29.2% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 24.1% | Not comparable |
| APEX-Agents-AASource | — | 17.0% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1085 | Not comparable |
| ResearchClawBenchSource | — | 12.4% | Not comparable |
CodingClaude Sonnet 4.6 wins9 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 79.6% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-RebenchSource | 60.7% | — | Not comparable |
| React Native EvalsSource | 80.6% | — | Not comparable |
| Vibe Code BenchSource | 51.48% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench31Source | 48.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 46.9% | 47.3% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| FrontierCode 1.1 MainSource | 24.3% | — | Not comparable |
| SciCodeSource | — | 47.3% | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | — | 42.3% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
KnowledgeClaude Sonnet 4.6 wins10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Grok 4.3 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 89.9% | 90.1% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| SuperGPQASource | 95% | — | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | 79.2% | — | Not comparable |
| HLESource | 49% | 35% | Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 35.9% | 37.6% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 79.9% | 90.1% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 13.2% | 35.0% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -2.9% | 18.3% | Grok 4.3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 38.0% | 34.6% | Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 65.9% | 25.0% | Grok 4.3 leads |
Math2 benchmarks
MultimodalGrok 4.3 wins4 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (4)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 65.1 to 65.07. The biggest single separator in this matchup is HLE, where the scores are 49% and 35%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 66 versus 42.4. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Hallucination Rate is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 69.1 versus 47.3. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 78.1 versus 77.4. Inside this category, Design Arena Website is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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