Last verified 2025-09-22 (left) · 2025-09-22 (right)

Claude Sonnet 4 vs Grok 4 — Pricing & Capability Comparison

Claude Sonnet 4 charges $3.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens. Grok 4 comes in at $3.00 / $15.00. Context windows span 200K vs 256K tokens respectively.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison

  • Claude Sonnet 4 is cheaper overall: $18.00 per 1M tokens (in+out) vs $18.00 for Grok 4 — saves $0.00 per 1M tokens
  • Input pricing: Claude Sonnet 4 $3.00/1M vs Grok 4 $3.00/1M
  • Output pricing: Claude Sonnet 4 $15.00/1M vs Grok 4 $15.00/1M
  • Context window: Grok 4 offers more (256K vs 200K)
  • Use our calculator below to estimate costs for your specific usage pattern

Input price (per 1M)

Claude Sonnet 4

$3.00

Grok 4

$3.00

Claude Sonnet 4 leads here

Output price (per 1M)

Claude Sonnet 4

$15.00

Grok 4

$15.00

Claude Sonnet 4 leads here

Context window

Claude Sonnet 4

200,000 tokens

Grok 4

256,000 tokens

Grok 4 leads here

Cached input

Claude Sonnet 4

$0.300

Grok 4

$0.750

Claude Sonnet 4 leads here

Cost comparison for 10K-token workloads

Side-by-side pricing for identical workloads (10,000 total tokens per request) across different distributions.

ScenarioClaude Sonnet 4Grok 4Claude Sonnet 4 cachedGrok 4 cached
Balanced conversation
50% input · 50% output
$0.0900$0.0900$0.0765$0.0788
Input-heavy workflow
80% input · 20% output
$0.0540$0.0540$0.0324$0.0360
Generation heavy
30% input · 70% output
$0.114$0.114$0.106$0.107
Cached system prompt
90% cached input · 10% fresh output
$0.0420$0.0420$0.0177$0.0217

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper: Claude Sonnet 4 or Grok 4?

Claude Sonnet 4 is cheaper for input tokens at $3.00 per 1M tokens compared to $3.00. For output, Claude Sonnet 4 costs $15.00 per 1M tokens versus $15.00 for Grok 4.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for Claude Sonnet 4?

Claude Sonnet 4 pricing: $3.00 per 1M input tokens and $15.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 200,000 tokens.

What is the cost per 1M tokens for Grok 4?

Grok 4 pricing: $3.00 per 1M input tokens and $15.00 per 1M output tokens. Context window: 256,000 tokens.

How much does it cost per 1K tokens?

Per 1K tokens: Claude Sonnet 4 costs $0.0030 input / $0.0150 output. Grok 4 costs $0.0030 input / $0.0150 output. This is useful for calculating small-scale usage costs.

Which model supports a larger context window?

Grok 4 offers 256,000 tokens (256K) versus 200K for Claude Sonnet 4.

What is the estimated monthly cost for typical usage?

For a typical workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens per month: Claude Sonnet 4 would cost approximately $60.00, while Grok 4 would cost $60.00. Claude Sonnet 4 is more economical for this usage pattern.

Do these models support prompt caching?

Claude Sonnet 4 supports prompt caching at $0.300 per 1M cached tokens, reducing costs for repeated context by up to 90%. Grok 4 supports caching at $0.750 per 1M tokens, saving up to 75%.

Which model is best for my use case?

Choose Claude Sonnet 4 for cost-sensitive applications with high input volume. Choose Grok 4 if you need 256K context for long documents or conversations. Consider prompt caching if you have repeated context. Use our token calculator to model your specific usage pattern.

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