Grok4.5 vs Claude Opus 5
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math
Claude Opus 5 is the stronger all-rounder.Grok4.5 is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 37 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking06Claude Opus 56 of 7 tests · 1 tie
- CodingWriting and fixing software06Claude Opus 56 of 6 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video03Claude Opus 53 of 3 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math03Claude Opus 53 of 3 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own02Claude Opus 52 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12Claude Opus 52 of 3 tests
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Grok4.51 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts00Even0 each · 1 tie
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Grok4.5 costs 73% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 5 pulls ahead
- Extremely hard research-level math problemsFrontierMath Tier 4+48.8points ahead
- Complex command-line tasks across many fieldsTerminal-Bench 4.0+38.4points ahead
- Abstract visual puzzles that people can solveARC-AGI-2+37.8points ahead
Where Grok4.5 pulls ahead
- Follows detailed instructions exactlyLiveBench · Instruction Following+7.7points ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+6.7points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 37 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 5
- SWE-bench ProClaude Opus 5 by 14.564.779.2+14.5
- LMArena · WebDevClaude Opus 5 by 139 rating points15531692+139 rating
- LiveBench · CodingClaude Opus 5 by 12.968.681.5+12.9
- LiveBench · Agentic CodingClaude Opus 5 by 8.756.565.2+8.7
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Claude Opus 5 by 7.581.689.1+7.5
- SciCodeClaude Opus 5 by 1.45556.4+1.4
AgentsClaude Opus 5
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Opus 5 by 38.410.649+38.4
- GDPValClaude Opus 5 by 16.744.561.2+16.7
- τ-Bench V3 · Bankingtie42.142.1tie
ReasoningClaude Opus 5
- ARC-AGI-2Claude Opus 5 by 37.852.690.4+37.8
- ARC-AGI-3Claude Opus 5 by 29.90.330.2+29.9
- CritPtClaude Opus 5 by 13.715.429.1+13.7
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 5 by 12.242.754.9+12.2
- SimpleBenchClaude Opus 5 by 10.67080.6+10.6
- LiveBench · ReasoningClaude Opus 5 by 487.291.2+4
- GPQA Diamondtie93.193.2tie
FactsClaude Opus 5
- SimpleQA VerifiedClaude Opus 5 by 11.648.359.9+11.6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 5 by 9.351.560.9+9.3
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGrok4.5 by 6.745.939.2+6.7
Images and chartsClaude Opus 5
- MMMU-ProClaude Opus 5 by 4.380.484.7+4.3
- LMArena · VisionClaude Opus 5 by 33 rating points12881321+33 rating
- CharXiv (RQ)Claude Opus 5 by 2.181.683.7+2.1
MathClaude Opus 5
- FrontierMath Tier 4Claude Opus 5 by 48.824.473.2+48.8
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)Claude Opus 5 by 28.457.285.6+28.4
- LiveBench · MathematicsClaude Opus 5 by 4.990.895.7+4.9
Following instructionsGrok4.5
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingGrok4.5 by 7.771.563.8+7.7
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- Terminal-Bench 4.0Claude Opus 5 by 39.412.451.8+39.4
- GDPval-AA v2 EloClaude Opus 5 by 289 rating points15351824+289 rating
- DeepSWE 1.1Claude Opus 5 by 14.85468.8+14.8
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 5 by 14.142.156.2+14.1
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 5 by 1238.850.8+12
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 5 by 11.825.337.1+11.8
- ARC-AGI-1Claude Opus 5 by 11.885.797.5+11.8
- livebench_languageClaude Opus 5 by 5.982.888.7+5.9
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 5 by 5.672.478+5.6
- livebench_data_analysisClaude Opus 5 by 1.67374.5+1.6
Questions people ask
Which is better, Grok4.5 or Claude Opus 5?
Claude Opus 5 wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts and math. Grok4.5 wins following instructions, and costs 73% less. They are level on long documents.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 5. It wins 6 of the 6 coding tests both models report; Grok4.5 wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Grok4.5 costs $2.00 per million input tokens and $6.00 per million output tokens; Claude Opus 5 costs $5.00 and $25.00. That makes Grok4.5 about 73% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 37 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 27 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.