Anthropic vs xAI
Complete comparison of Anthropic (9 models) and xAI (5 models) for AI coding projects. Updated April 2026.
Quick Verdict
Anthropic offers 9 models ranging from $0.250 to $15.00 per million input tokens. Cheapest: Claude 3 Haiku.
xAI offers 5 models ranging from $0.300 to $5.00 per million input tokens. Cheapest: Grok 3 Mini.
Winner on price: Anthropic ($0.250/M input). Winner on average: xAI (avg $2.96/M).
Winner Per Scenario
Which provider has the cheapest model for each coding scenario?
| Scenario | Anthropic Best | xAI Best | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | Claude 3 Haiku — $0.05 | Grok 3 Mini — $0.03 | xAI wins by $0.02 |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | Claude 3 Haiku — $0.34 | Grok 3 Mini — $0.21 | xAI wins by $0.13 |
| Large Project (50K lines) | Claude 3 Haiku — $1.69 | Grok 3 Mini — $1.02 | xAI wins by $0.66 |
| Code Review (5K lines) | Claude 3 Haiku — $0.07 | Grok 3 Mini — $0.07 | xAI wins by <$0.01 |
Head-to-Head Model Comparisons
Each Anthropic model matched against its closest-priced xAI competitor. Medium project cost (500K input + 200K output).
| Anthropic | xAI | Cost | Cost | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 4 | Grok 3 | $4.66 | $4.05 | Grok 3 saves $0.61 (13%) |
| Claude Opus 4 | Grok 4 | $23.29 | $6.75 | Grok 4 saves $16.54 (71%) |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Grok 3 | $4.66 | $4.05 | Grok 3 saves $0.61 (13%) |
| Claude 3.5 Haiku | Grok 3 Mini | $1.24 | $0.21 | Grok 3 Mini saves $1.04 (83%) |
| Claude 3 Opus | Grok 4 | $20.25 | $6.75 | Grok 4 saves $13.50 (67%) |
| Claude 3 Sonnet | Grok 3 | $4.05 | $4.05 | Claude 3 Sonnet saves <$0.01 (0%) |
| Claude 3 Haiku | Grok 3 Mini | $0.34 | $0.21 | Grok 3 Mini saves $0.13 (39%) |
| Claude 4 Haiku | Grok 3 Mini | $1.24 | $0.21 | Grok 3 Mini saves $1.04 (83%) |
| Claude Sonnet 4 Lite | Grok Code | $1.55 | $2.02 | Claude Sonnet 4 Lite saves $0.47 (23%) |
Full Ranking — All 14 Models
Every model from both providers, ranked by medium project cost.
| # | Model | Provider | Input ($/M) | Medium Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grok 3 Mini | xAI | $0.300 | $0.21 |
| 2 | Claude 3 Haiku | Anthropic | $0.250 | $0.34 |
| 3 | Claude 3.5 Haiku | Anthropic | $0.800 | $1.24 |
| 4 | Claude 4 Haiku | Anthropic | $0.800 | $1.24 |
| 5 | Claude Sonnet 4 Lite | Anthropic | $1.00 | $1.55 |
| 6 | Grok Code | xAI | $1.50 | $2.02 |
| 7 | Claude 3 Sonnet | Anthropic | $3.00 | $4.05 |
| 8 | Grok 3 | xAI | $3.00 | $4.05 |
| 9 | Claude Sonnet 4 | Anthropic | $3.00 | $4.66 |
| 10 | Claude 3.5 Sonnet | Anthropic | $3.00 | $4.66 |
| 11 | Grok 3 Vision | xAI | $5.00 | $5.75 |
| 12 | Grok 4 | xAI | $5.00 | $6.75 |
| 13 | Claude 3 Opus | Anthropic | $15.00 | $20.25 |
| 14 | Claude Opus 4 | Anthropic | $15.00 | $23.29 |
Explore Individual Comparisons
Detailed side-by-side comparisons between specific models.