How much cheaper is Grok 4.3 than Claude Sonnet 5?

Grok 4.3 costs $1.25/$2.50 per 1M tokens while Claude Sonnet 5 costs $3/$15. Grok 4.3 is 58% cheaper on input and 83% cheaper on output. For 1M input + 500K output tokens/month, Sonnet 5 costs $10.50 vs Grok 4.3's $2.50 — saving $8/month.

When should I choose Grok 4.3 over Sonnet 5?

Choose Grok 4.3 ($1.25/$2.50) when cost matters: it's 58-83% cheaper across the board. Choose Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) when you need Anthropic's quality, better code generation, or are already in the Anthropic ecosystem. Grok 4.3 offers exceptional value for budget-conscious teams.

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Mid Mid

Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.3

Anthropic's newest mid-tier takes on xAI's latest. Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 trades blows with Grok 4.3 at $1.25/$2.50 — 58% cheaper on input and 83% cheaper on output. But is xAI's quality enough?

Pricing data verified: Jul 1, 2026

Specification	Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic)	Grok 4.3 (xAI)
Input Price (per 1M tokens)	$3.00	$1.25
Output Price (per 1M tokens)	$15.00	$2.50
Context Window	1M tokens	1M tokens
Tier	Mid	Mid
Provider	Anthropic	xAI

Calculate Your Exact Costs

Grok 4.3 is dramatically cheaper — see if its quality works for your use case.

Input Tokens per Request

Output Tokens per Request

Requests per Day

Days per Month

Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 5

$0.00

per month

Input cost

Output cost

Cost per request

Requests/month

xAI

Grok 4.3

$0.00

per month

Input cost

Output cost

Cost per request

Requests/month

Other Mid-Tier Models

GPT-5.5

OpenAI

$5 / $30 per 1M

1.05M context

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Google

$2 / $12 per 1M

1M context

GPT-5

OpenAI

$1.25 / $10 per 1M

272K context

Which Model for Which Use Case?

Code Generation

Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 produces high-quality code. Grok 4.3 at $1.25/$2.50 handles code at 83% lower output cost. For production code quality, Sonnet 5 wins. For cost-effective coding, Grok 4.3 offers exceptional value.

Quality code: Sonnet 5 | Budget code: Grok 4.3

Content Generation

Blog posts, marketing copy, documentation. Grok 4.3 at $1.25/$2.50 is 83% cheaper on output, making it ideal for bulk content. Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 produces more nuanced prose for premium content.

Bulk content: Grok 4.3 | Premium content: Sonnet 5

Complex Analysis

Research synthesis, multi-step reasoning, nuanced analysis. Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 excels at deep reasoning tasks. Grok 4.3 at $1.25/$2.50 handles complex analysis well at much lower cost. For most analysis tasks, Grok 4.3 offers better value.

Value analysis: Grok 4.3 | Deep analysis: Sonnet 5

High-Volume Batch Processing

At 10M input + 5M output tokens/month, Sonnet 5 costs $105 vs Grok 4.3's $25 — saving $80/month. For batch workloads, Grok 4.3's 83% lower output cost makes it the clear winner.

Better value: Grok 4.3

Comparing Anthropic and xAI models?

APIpulse Pro lets you compare all 49 models including Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) and Grok 4.3 ($1.25/$2.50), save scenarios, and export cost reports for your team.

49 models across 10 providers

Save up to 10 scenarios

Export PDF cost reports

Optimize — save up to 83%

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much cheaper is Grok 4.3 than Sonnet 5?

Grok 4.3 costs $1.25/$2.50 per 1M tokens vs Sonnet 5 at $3/$15 — 58% cheaper on input, 83% cheaper on output. At 1M input + 500K output tokens/month, that's $2.50 vs $10.50, saving $8/month. At 10M input + 5M output, savings reach $80/month.

Is Sonnet 5 better than Grok 4.3?

Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) excels at code generation and complex reasoning. Grok 4.3 ($1.25/$2.50) is dramatically cheaper with solid performance. Both have 1M context. For quality-critical tasks, Sonnet 5 wins. For cost efficiency, Grok 4.3 is hard to beat.

Does Sonnet 5 have introductory pricing?

Yes. Claude Sonnet 5 offers introductory pricing of $2/$10 per MTok through August 31, 2026 — 33% cheaper than standard. After August 31, it returns to $3/$15. Grok 4.3 has no announced introductory pricing at $1.25/$2.50.