API cost decision in 10 seconds

Grok 4.20 vs Claude 3.5 Haiku

Pick Grok 4.20 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T20:08:05Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Grok 4.20 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $0.3 (10.7% lower).

Cost-first pickGrok 4.20

Context-first pickGrok 4.20

Sample savings$0.310.7%

10x traffic gap$3

Grok 4.20 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $3. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Claude 3.5 Haiku, balanced workload favors Grok 4.20, and output-heavy chatbot favors Grok 4.20.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.20	Claude 3.5 Haiku
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Claude 3.5 Haiku	$7.5	$6
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Grok 4.20	$3.75	$4.8
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok 4.20	$13.75	$20.8

Cheaper input Claude 3.5 Haiku $1.25 vs $0.8 / 1M

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $0.45 cheaper per 1M input tokens (36% lower; 1.56x difference).

Cheaper output Grok 4.20 $2.5 vs $4 / 1M

Grok 4.20 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.20 2M vs 200K

Grok 4.20 has 1.8M more context (10x larger).

Sample workload Grok 4.20 $2.5 vs $2.8

Grok 4.20 is $0.3 cheaper on the standard workload (10.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Grok 4.20 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Claude 3.5 Haiku Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Claude 3.5 Haiku has the lower input price; Grok 4.20 has the lower output price; Grok 4.20 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Grok 4.20 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.5 for Grok 4.20 and $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.20 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Claude 3.5 Haiku when you care most about lower input-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $0.3 (10.7% lower).
Grok 4.20 is $0.3 cheaper on the standard workload (10.7% lower).
Claude 3.5 Haiku is $0.45 cheaper per 1M input tokens (36% lower; 1.56x difference).
Grok 4.20 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).
Grok 4.20 has 1.8M more context (10x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Grok 4.20 (xAI)	Claude 3.5 Haiku (Anthropic)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$0.8
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$4
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$2.8
Context Window	2M	200K
Release Date	2026-03-31	2024-11-04
Popularity	#92	#104

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Grok 4.20	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $0.3 (10.7% lower).
High-volume input processing	Claude 3.5 Haiku	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok 4.20	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok 4.20	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Grok Build 0.1 can replace Grok 4.20 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.
Claude 3 Haiku can replace Claude 3.5 Haiku when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.88.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

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Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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xAI catalog

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Anthropic catalog

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