Claude Sonnet 5 vs Grok 4.5
Head-to-head comparison across 2benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verdict
Claude Sonnet 5 leads for most workloads.
Based on BenchLM composite scores, July 2026.
Claude Sonnet 5
86
Grok 4.5
75
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Grok 4.5 only becomes the better choice if agentic is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.
Category Radar
Head-to-Head by Category
Category Breakdown
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | Δ | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 71.4 | ← 6.7 | 64.7 |
| Agentic | 81.9 | → 1.4 | 83.3 |
| Knowledge | 57.4 | — | — |
| Multimodal | 88.3 | — | — |
Operational Comparison
Claude Sonnet 5
Grok 4.5
$2 / $10
$2 / $6
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1M
500K
Quick Verdict
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Grok 4.5 only becomes the better choice if agentic is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.
Claude Sonnet 5 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 86 to 75. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude Sonnet 5's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 71.4 against 64.7. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is Terminal-Bench 2.0, 80.4% to 83.3%. Grok 4.5 does hit back in agentic, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Claude Sonnet 5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $2.00 input / $6.00 output per 1M tokens for Grok 4.5. Claude Sonnet 5 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 500K for Grok 4.5.
Benchmark Deep Dive
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?
Claude Sonnet 5 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 86 to 75. The biggest single separator in this matchup is Terminal-Bench 2.0, where the scores are 80.4% and 83.3%.
Which is better for coding, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?
Claude Sonnet 5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 71.4 versus 64.7. Inside this category, CursorBench v3.2 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Claude Sonnet 5 or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 83.3 versus 81.9. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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