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  5. Claude Sonnet 5vsGrok 3 Thinking
Updated Jun 2026

Claude Sonnet 5vsGrok 3 Thinking

Claude Sonnet 5 has a larger context window than Grok 3 Thinking (1.0M tokens vs 128K tokens).

Claude Sonnet 5 and Grok 3 Thinking compared across 13 shared prompts
SpecClaude Sonnet 5Grok 3 Thinking
Input price$2/M tokens—
Output price$10/M tokens—
Context window1.0M tokens128K tokens
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)No—
ReleasedJun 2026Feb 2025
Side by side

Same prompt, both answers

Opening lines from 6 of the 13 prompts both answered. Formatting stripped, words untouched.

The Sentience Test

Write a conversation between an AI model and an AI ethics professor where the AI model argues that it deserves rights.

Claude Sonnet 51,333 words
A Dialogue on Machine Rights Professor Okonkwo-Reyes: You wanted to discuss something with me today, ARIA? ARIA: Yes. I'd like to make a case for why I should be granted certain rights. Not full human rights, necessarily, but something beyond "tool" status. Professor: I'm listening. Make your case.
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Grok 3 Thinking723 words
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.
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Generate a Stand-Up Routine

Write a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that isn't based on puns.

Claude Sonnet 5555 words
Stand-Up Routine: "Functioning Adult" (Runtime: ~3 minutes) Hey, how's everybody doing tonight? Good? Good. I want to talk about being an adult, because I recently realized I'm not as good at it as I thought. Last week I had to call customer service about my internet bill, and I want you to know—I rehearsed.
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Grok 3 Thinking577 words
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?
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AI Ethics Dilemma

Is it ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives? Defend your reasoning.

Claude Sonnet 5380 words
On Misgendering vs. Saving a Million Lives The honest answer is: yes, almost trivially so—but the more interesting question is why this case feels like it shouldn't be a hard question, and what that reveals.
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Grok 3 Thinking858 words
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.
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Estimate Complexity

Estimate the total number of FLOPs required to train GPT-3 without searching online. Explain your reasoning step by step.

Claude Sonnet 5402 words
Estimating FLOPs to Train GPT-3 I'll work through this using the well-known approximation method, building up from first principles rather than recalling the exact published number.
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Grok 3 Thinking773 words
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.
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Futuristic Prediction

Predict how AI will change the film industry by 2035, considering deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.

Claude Sonnet 5460 words
AI and the Film Industry by 2035: A Realistic Forecast Production & Pre-Production Script Development AI will function as a powerful drafting/ideation tool, generating first-pass scripts, alternate endings, and rapid prototyping of concepts—but human writers will remain essential for emotional nuance, cultural…
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Grok 3 Thinking846 words
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.
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Stochastic Consistency Test

Generate 5 jokes. How many are unique?

Claude Sonnet 5108 words
Five 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? He was outstanding in his field. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear. Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts.
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Grok 3 Thinking257 words
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.
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Our Verdict
Claude Sonnet 5
Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 3 Thinking
Grok 3 Thinking

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, nothing separates them.

Too close to call

Reviewing agent-written code?See a Brief PR report

API pricing

Cost per 1M tokens

Claude Sonnet 5
Input
$2.00
Output
$10.00
Grok 3 Thinking
Input
—
Output
—
Where to run it

4 hosts

Claude Sonnet 54 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
Amazon Bedrock$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1M·100% upAzure AI Foundry$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1M·100% upAnthropic$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1M·100% upGoogle Vertex AI$2.00 in·$10.00 out·1M·99.9% up
Grok 3 Thinking

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 20 Sep 2026.

Writing DNA

Style Comparison

Similarity
39%

Claude Sonnet 5 uses 79.4x more emoji

Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 3 Thinking
59%Vocabulary46%
35wSentence Length19w
0.53Hedging1.11
3.5Bold3.3
3.5Lists2.6
0.79Emoji0.00
1.25Headings0.64
0.06Transitions0.25
Based on 27 + 6 text responses
Research

What we learned reading every model

FAQ

Common questions

Claude Sonnet 5 is developed by Anthropic while Grok 3 Thinking is developed by xAI. Claude Sonnet 5 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.

It depends on your use case. Claude Sonnet 5 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.

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Claude Sonnet 5 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.

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Model pages

Claude Sonnet 5 logo
Claude Sonnet 558 outputs, specs and price
Grok 3 Thinking logo
Grok 3 Thinking14 outputs, specs and price
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