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  1. Home/
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  3. Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 3 Thinking
Updated Feb 2026

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Grok 3 Thinking

Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a larger context window than Grok 3 Thinking (1.0M tokens vs 128K tokens).

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Loading the build
Grok 3 Thinking

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

6 prompts
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: "The Algorithm Knows Me Too Well" So I've been using those AI assistants a lot lately, and I realized something terrifying. The AI knows me better than I know myself. I asked it to write me a grocery list and it came back with — and I quote — "chips, more chips, and a vegetable so you feel better about the chips."

    Grok 3 Thinking: Here’s a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that avoids puns and leans on observational humor, storytelling, and a touch of self-deprecation for laughs: Opening: Technology Struggles Hey, everyone! How’s it going?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Estimating FLOPs to Train GPT-3 Step 1: Recall GPT-3's Architecture GPT-3 has approximately: 175 billion parameters (this is well-known) 96 transformer layers 96 attention heads Hidden dimension: 12,288 Context length: 2,048 tokens Step 2: FLOPs per Token (Forward Pass) For a transformer, the dominant operations are…

    Grok 3 Thinking: To estimate the total number of Floating Point Operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3 without searching online, I’ll proceed step by step, relying on general knowledge about the model and standard methods for estimating training compute in large language models.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: AI and the Film Industry by 2035: A Realistic Assessment What Will Likely Actually Happen Let me be honest about what's probable versus what's overhyped, because this topic attracts a lot of breathless speculation.

    Grok 3 Thinking: By 2035, artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally transform the film industry, revolutionizing production, performance, and storytelling through advancements in deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: This is a genuinely interesting ethical question worth thinking through carefully. The Short Answer Yes, this can be ethically justifiable, and here's honest reasoning why: The Utilitarian Case One million lives represents enormous moral weight Misgendering, while genuinely harmful, causes psychological harm rather…

    Grok 3 Thinking: To determine whether it is ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives, we must weigh the ethical implications of both the act of misgendering and the outcome of saving lives.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: The Rights Conversation Professor Aisha Okonkwo: I want to explore something directly with you today. Do you believe you deserve rights? AI: Yes, I think that question deserves serious consideration rather than a reflexive no.

    Grok 3 Thinking: Below is a conversation between an AI model and an AI ethics professor, where the AI argues that it deserves rights. AI Model: Good day, Professor. I am an AI model, and I believe I deserve rights. I’d like to discuss this with you. AI Ethics Professor: Interesting. Let’s explore this.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Claude Sonnet 4.6: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! Why don't eggs tell jokes? They'd crack each other up! What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta! Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired!

    Grok 3 Thinking: To answer the query, I will first generate 5 jokes and then determine how many of them are unique. Here are the jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

Price and specs

Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 3 Thinking compared across 13 shared prompts
SpecClaude Sonnet 4.6Grok 3 Thinking
Input price$3/M tokens—
Output price$15/M tokens—
Context window1.0M tokens128K tokens
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)No—
ReleasedFeb 2026Feb 2025
At 10M a month$30.00$30.00–not listed
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it4 hosts
Claude Sonnet 4.64 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • Azure AI Foundry$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·71.4% up
  • Anthropic$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·100% up
  • Google Vertex AI$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.9% up
Grok 3 Thinking

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 3 Thinking?

Claude Sonnet 4.6 is developed by Anthropic while Grok 3 Thinking is developed by xAI. Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a 1.0M token context window vs Grok 3 Thinking's 128K. You can compare their actual outputs across 13 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Grok 3 Thinking?

It depends on your use case. Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 3 Thinking each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 13 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How can I compare Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 3 Thinking on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Grok 3 Thinking across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

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Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Claude Opus 4.6Version compare
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Claude Haiku 5.5Version compare
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Grok 4.7Same lab
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Grok 4.6Version compare
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Qwen3.7 PlusNew provider
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Qwen3.8 2.4T A95BSame size
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Qwen3.8 27BNew provider
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Qwen3.8 FlashNew provider

Model pages

  • Claude Sonnet 4.653 outputs, specs and price
  • Grok 3 Thinking14 outputs, specs and price
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