Anthropic vs xAI (Grok) Pricing
xAI (Grok) is cheaper than Anthropic at the entry level: Grok 3 Mini costs $0.500 per 1M output tokens against $1.25 for Claude 3 Haiku — 2.5× the price. On current flagships, Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1 costs $50.00/1M output against $6.00/1M for xAI (Grok)'s Grok 4.7. Prices are USD, current as of September 28, 2026.
Per-million-token pricing for Anthropic and xAI (Grok), with side-by-side flagship models, cheapest tiers, and context windows. Pricing data syncs weekly from a continuously-updated model catalog — last updated September 28, 2026.
Who wins on what
Cheapest input tokens
$0.20/1MxAI (Grok)
Grok 4 Fast — $0.20/1M input
Cheapest output tokens
$0.50/1MxAI (Grok)
Grok 3 Mini — $0.50/1M output
Longest context window
2.0MxAI (Grok)
Grok 4 Fast — 2.0M input tokens
Lowest average output cost
$3.58/1MxAI (Grok)
Provider-wide average across 43 models
Largest model catalog
43 modelsxAI (Grok)
More options to match cost vs capability
Cheapest cached input
$0.20/1MAnthropic
Claude Opus 5.5 — $0.20/1M cached read
Most reasoning models
7 modelsxAI (Grok)
Models with dedicated reasoning / thinking support
Most vision models
8 modelsxAI (Grok)
Models that accept image input
Side-by-side
Anthropic
Full Anthropic pricing →Cheapest input
$0.250
Claude 3 Haiku
Cheapest output
$1.25
Claude 3 Haiku
Longest context
1.0M
Claude Fable 5
Avg output / 1M
$24.66
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.200
Claude Opus 5.5
Batch discount
50% off output
19 models with published batch rates
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $4.00 | $20.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Fable 5.1 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Opus 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $5.00 | $25.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Sonnet 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $2.00 | $10.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Fable 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude 3 Haiku | $0.250 | $1.25 | 200K |
xAI (Grok)
Full xAI (Grok) pricing →Cheapest input
$0.200
Grok 4 Fast
Cheapest output
$0.500
Grok 3 Mini
Longest context
2.0M
Grok 4 Fast
Avg output / 1M
$3.58
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.200
Grok 4.20 (Non-Reasoning)
Batch discount
20% off output
10 models with published batch rates
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grok 4.7 VisionReasoningToolsCache | $2.00 | $6.00 | 500K |
| Grok 4.6 VisionReasoningToolsCache | $2.00 | $6.00 | 500K |
| Grok 4.5 VisionReasoningToolsCache | $2.00 | $6.00 | 500K |
| Grok 4.3 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −20% | $1.25 | $2.50 | 1.0M |
| Grok Build 0.1 VisionReasoningToolsCache | $1.00 | $2.00 | 256K |
| Grok 3 Mini | $0.300 | $0.500 | 131K |
All prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Showing top 6 models per provider, sorted by output cost.
Batch badges mark models with a published asynchronous batch rate. A model without one is billed at its standard rate — our catalog does not carry batch rates for every model, so an absent badge is not evidence that no batch tier exists.
Frequently asked questions
Is Anthropic or xAI (Grok) cheaper?
xAI (Grok) has the cheaper entry point at $0.50/1M output (Grok 3 Mini — $0.50/1M output). Provider-wide, Anthropic averages $24.66/1M output against $3.58/1M for xAI (Grok). Which is cheaper for you depends on which model tier your workload actually needs.
How much do Anthropic and xAI (Grok) cost per 1M tokens?
Anthropic starts at $1.25 per 1M output tokens (Claude 3 Haiku), with its current flagship Claude Fable 5.1 at $50.00. xAI (Grok) starts at $0.500 (Grok 3 Mini), with Grok 4.7 at $6.00. Input tokens cost less than output on both.
Which has the larger context window, Anthropic or xAI (Grok)?
xAI (Grok) — Grok 4 Fast — 2.0M input tokens. For comparison, Anthropic's largest is 1.0M tokens (Claude Fable 5) and xAI (Grok)'s is 2.0M tokens (Grok 4 Fast).
Which has more reasoning models, Anthropic or xAI (Grok)?
Anthropic lists 6 reasoning models and xAI (Grok) lists 7. Reasoning models bill their internal thinking as output tokens, so a reasoning call costs several times a standard completion of the same visible length — compare them on total tokens billed, not headline rate.
Do Anthropic and xAI (Grok) offer batch discounts?
Both publish discounted rates for asynchronous batch jobs: Anthropic on 19 models in this catalog and xAI (Grok) on 10, at 50% and 20% off output tokens respectively. Batch trades real-time responses for a lower rate, so it fits backfills, evaluations and bulk enrichment rather than anything user-facing.
Should I switch from Anthropic to xAI (Grok) to save money?
Only if the cheaper model still meets your quality bar. Token price is one input; the ones that decide your bill are prompt size, response length, retries and how much conversation history you resend each turn. Model the switch against your real traffic before committing. Prices here are current as of September 28, 2026.
Related comparisons
Run the numbers for your workload.
Calcaas multiplies per-token costs by your real usage patterns — inputs, outputs, retries, and conversation history — across both providers in one model.