Claude vs Grok: which is better?
Updated:
Compare Claude Opus 5.5 and Grok 4.7 on Intelligence Index, API price, context, and output speed. This manual review uses OpenRouter and provider documentation checked on October 4, 2026.
Claude and Grok by the numbers
OpenRouter lists an Intelligence Index of 57.6 for Claude Opus 5.5 and 46.4 for Grok 4.7, using Artificial Analysis data from September 22, 2026. Speeds below are OpenRouter medians, not measurements of our gateway; they depend on load and routing.
Intelligence Index
API price
standard rates: input / output per 1M tokens
Context
Output speed
output tokens per second, OpenRouter p50
Claude vs Grok: Claude Opus 5.5 and Grok 4.7 compared
| Criterion | Claude Opus 5.5 | Grok 4.7 | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 57.6 in the OpenRouter comparison. | 46.4 in the OpenRouter comparison. | Claude Opus 5.5 is 11.2 points higher. This is a composite index, not a coding-specific test. |
| API price | $4 input and $20 output per 1M tokens at standard Anthropic rates. | $2 input and $6 output per 1M tokens at standard xAI rates. | Grok costs 50% less on input and 70% less on output. Separate Grok rates apply above 200K input tokens. |
| Context | 1M tokens. | 500K tokens. | Claude Opus 5.5 has twice the context window. |
| Output speed | 66.0 tokens per second; p50 latency 4.12 s. | 64.0 tokens per second; p50 latency 2.19 s. | Claude generates tokens slightly faster in this comparison; Grok has lower response latency. These are different metrics. |
| Reasoning | Adaptive thinking is always on; effort adjusts its depth. | Reasoning effort: low, medium, high, xhigh. | Both allow reasoning depth adjustments, through different mechanisms. |
Which one to choose
Larger context and higher index — Claude Opus 5.5
Its 1M-token window fits twice as much text, and its Intelligence Index is 11.2 points higher. This comparison has no separate Coding Index; test code quality on your own tasks.
Lower token costs — Grok 4.7
Standard rates of $2 input and $6 output per 1M tokens are below Claude’s $4 and $20. Total cost also depends on answer length, context, and retries.
Production — test both
One benchmark cannot decide every project. Quality on your data, context length, speed, and completed-task cost all matter.
Choose the model for the task
Grok API Dev brings Grok, Claude, GPT, and other popular models into one interface. One key and one balance — switch between them per workload without changing your SDK.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude smarter than Grok?
This OpenRouter comparison lists an Intelligence Index of 57.6 for Claude Opus 5.5 and 46.4 for Grok 4.7, a gap of 11.2 points. A composite index does not guarantee better results on every task; test with your own data.
Which is cheaper, Claude or Grok?
Grok 4.7 standard rates are $2 per 1M input and $6 per 1M output tokens; Claude Opus 5.5 costs $4 and $20. Grok costs 50% less on input and 70% less on output. Different Grok rates apply above 200K input tokens.
Which model has the larger context window?
Claude Opus 5.5 supports 1M tokens; Grok 4.7 supports 500K. This is the context window, not a promise to process the entire window as input and then add output beyond the limit.
Which is better for coding, Claude or Grok?
This comparison has no separate Coding Index or Agentic Index. Intelligence Index alone cannot determine the better coding model. Test both on your own examples, including tool calls, result quality, and completed-task cost.
Can I use Claude and Grok through one API?
Yes. Grok API Dev serves Grok, Claude, GPT, and other models through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint, one API key, and a shared balance. Switching models means changing the model value in the request.