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Head-to-head comparison

Sonar vs Grok Build 0.1

Sonar (Perplexity) and Grok Build 0.1 (xAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, Sonar holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#200 vs #203); Sonar is 2× cheaper per output token ($1.00/1M vs $2.00/1M); and Grok Build 0.1 offers the longer context window (256K vs 127K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Sonar if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #200 against #203 (7.0 vs 6.0 points).
  • API cost matters — $1.00/1M output tokens against $2.00/1M, about 2× cheaper.

Choose Grok Build 0.1 if…

  • you need the longer context window — 256K tokens against 127K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Grok Build 0.1 was listed 20 May 2026, Sonar 27 January 2025.

Sonar vs Grok Build 0.1: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Sonar and Grok Build 0.1
FieldSonarPerplexityGrok Build 0.1xAI
ModelCap Index position#200#203
Index score7.06.0
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$1.00$1.00
Output price / 1M tokens$1.00$2.00
Context window127K tokens256K tokens
Max output tokens114K230K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesText, ImageText, Image, File
First listed27 January 202520 May 2026
PublisherPerplexityxAI

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Sonar vs Grok Build 0.1

Public benchmark boards where Sonar or Grok Build 0.1 has a published result
BoardSonarGrok Build 0.1Leads
LMArena AgentLMArena—-11.3%-12.5%–-10.1%Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis9.4intelligence-index—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis4.9%humanitys-last-exam—Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Sonar vs Grok Build 0.1: common questions

Is Sonar better than Grok Build 0.1?

Sonar ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #200 against #203. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Sonar cheaper than Grok Build 0.1?

Sonar is cheaper on output tokens: $1.00/1M against $2.00/1M. Input tokens are $1.00/1M for Sonar and $1.00/1M for Grok Build 0.1. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Sonar or Grok Build 0.1?

Grok Build 0.1 has the larger context window: 256K tokens against 127K.

Which is better for coding, Sonar or Grok Build 0.1?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Sonar and Grok Build 0.1 open-weight models?

Sonar: API only. Grok Build 0.1: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Sonar and Grok Build 0.1?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Sonar and 1 for Grok Build 0.1, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Sonar vs Grok Build 0.1 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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