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Grok 4.5 API Pricing & Cost Calculator

Grok 4.5's $2/$6 pricing makes it the cheapest 'reasoning-tier' frontier model per output token. The shorter 500K context window is the catch - if you don't need 1M, the value is excellent.

Grok 4.5 is xAI's frontier reasoning model with a 500K-token context window. It sits in the same pricing tier as Claude Sonnet 5 and below the flagship Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol.

By TechCompare · Updated

Input tokens
100,000
per request
Output tokens
5,000
per request
Volume
100 / monthly
Standard API

Calculator

Cost Comparison

Based on 100,000 input tokens (50% cached), 5,000 output tokens, and 100 requests.Prices are fetched live from OpenRouter and may include temporary promotional discounts not accounted for in our article and comparison figures.

Same 100,000 in / 5,000 out (50% cached) scenario, pre-loaded. Adjust tokens, caching, or swap models.
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How this is calculated

Grok 4.5 is priced at $2.00 per million input tokens and $6.00 per million output tokens, with an 85% prompt caching discount ($0.30 per million cached reads). Its 500K context window is half of Claude's and Gemini's 1M, which is the main trade-off versus same-priced peers.

Verdict

Grok 4.5 lands at $2/M input and $6/M output, with the 85% cache discount dropping cached input to $0.30/M. The output row is what matters: $6/M is meaningfully lower than Sonnet 5's $10/M or Terra's $12/M, so output-heavy reasoning workloads cost about 40-50% less per output token. The trade is context: the 500K window is half of Claude's and Gemini's 1M, so workloads that fit are cheap and workloads that don't have to chunk or move up. Reserving Grok 4.5 for output-dominant reasoning tasks under 500K keeps the value advantage without hitting the context ceiling.

More API Standalones scenarios

GPT-5.5 Pricing
Single-model gpt-5.5 cost estimate
View details ➜
GPT-5.4 Pricing
Single-model gpt-5.4 cost estimate
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Claude Opus 4.8 Pricing
Single-model claude-opus-4.8 cost estimate
View details ➜

Related guides

Token cost calculator
How per-token counts turn into API costs.
View guide ➜
Prompt optimization
Cutting tokens is the cheapest way to cut cost.
View guide ➜

Frequently asked questions

How does Grok 4.5's caching compare to Claude's or Gemini's?
Grok 4.5 offers an 85% caching discount ($0.30 per million cached) vs the 90% Claude and Google offer. For highly cache-heavy workloads the 5-point gap adds up - Grok 4.5 is best for shorter, less-repetitive calls.
How much does Grok 4.5 cost per million output tokens?
Grok 4.5 charges $6.00 per million output tokens, 40% cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5's $10/M. Both share identical $2.00 per million input pricing. Grok's 85% caching discount brings cached input to $0.30 per million, slightly less aggressive than Claude's 90% ($0.20/M).
Does Grok 4.5 offer a batch discount?
No, xAI doesn't currently list a batch discount on Grok 4.5. For asynchronous bulk workloads, Claude Sonnet 5 and Gemini 3.6 Flash both offer 50% batch discounts, which makes them cheaper than Grok 4.5 in batch mode despite equal or higher base prices. Grok wins on live output-heavy workloads.

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