# Grok 4.6 Ships at $2/$6: 61 AA Index, Ties GPT-5.6 Sol

Grok 4.6 is live at $2/$6, scoring 61 on the AA Intelligence Index, tying GPT-5.6 Sol for third, behind Claude Opus 5 and Claude Fable 5. Verdict: pending → conditional.

By Neomanex. Updated 2026-10-07.

[Grok 4.6](/models/grok-4-6) shipped on August 12 at the same **$2 / $6 per 1M tokens** as [Grok 4.5](/models/grok-4-5) — and the first independent read is strong: **61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index**, a nine-benchmark composite that ties GPT-5.6 Sol and trails Claude Opus 5 (63) and Claude Fable 5 (62). We're moving the directory verdict from **pending → conditional** — not because the benchmarks are weak, but because a model that shipped yesterday hasn't earned *recommended* yet.

## What happened

SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.6 with pricing unchanged from Grok 4.5, plus a "Fast variant" at 2x price for higher throughput. The headline numbers (Artificial Analysis, 2026):

| Metric | Grok 4.6 | GPT-5.6 Sol | Fable 5 Max | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 61 | 61 | 62 | 56 |
| GDPVal-AA v2 | 1,753 | 1,728 | 1,741 | 1,526 |
| CursorBench v3.2 | 69.9% | 67.2% | 70.5% | 66.7% |

The table above compares a four-model subset — Claude Opus 5 (63) sits above Grok 4.6 on the AA Intelligence Index composite.

Three things stand out:

- **GDPVal-AA 1,753** — behind only Claude Opus 5, ahead of both Fable 5 Max and GPT-5.6 Sol.
- **A 5-point composite jump over Grok 4.5** (56 → 61) at the same price.
- **2x included usage in Grok Build and Cursor for the first week** — SpaceXAI is paying for the evaluation window.

It ships today across **Cursor, Grok Build, the API, OpenRouter, Vercel, and Cloudflare**. The launch post frames it for long-running agents and more ambitious interactive/visual work: staying on task across many steps, and stronger first-pass app structure and visual language (xAI, 2026).

## Why it matters

**Grok 4.6 is frontier-competitive at the cheapest price in its class.** Tying GPT-5.6 Sol on the composite — at $2/$6, unchanged from Grok 4.5 — resets the cost-per-capability math for agent workloads. If the GDPVal-AA lead holds, it becomes the default reach for teams that burn tokens on coding agents.

**But independent verification is exactly one evaluator deep.** Artificial Analysis is the only third-party read so far. A model that shipped yesterday has no long-horizon reliability record — no multi-step agent stress tests, no multi-day task-completion data. That's the gap between *conditional* and *recommended*, and a day-one composite score doesn't close it.

**The positioning is agent-first.** The launch leads with persistence across many steps and first-pass structure and visuals, aimed at [Cursor](/directory/cursor) and Grok Build users — not a general-purpose assistant play.

## What changes for you

**On Cursor or Grok Build: try it this week.** The 2x included usage makes it a near-free evaluation, and Grok 4.5 users get a meaningful upgrade at the same price.

**Betting production: hold.** Let the broader benchmark set land before routing critical workloads. One composite score, however strong, is not a reliability record.

**Need throughput: watch the Fast variant.** It runs at 2x price; worth it only if your workload is latency-bound, not token-bound.

## FAQ

**What changed between Grok 4.6 and Grok 4.5?**
Pricing is unchanged at $2/$6, but Grok 4.6 adds a 5-point composite jump (56 → 61), a GDPVal-AA result behind only Claude Opus 5, and — per the launch post — better persistence on long-running agent tasks plus stronger first-pass app structure and visual language (xAI, 2026).

**Is Grok 4.6 better than GPT-5.6 Sol?**
They tie at 61 on the AA Intelligence Index. Grok 4.6 leads GPT-5.6 Sol on GDPVal-AA (1,753 vs 1,728) and CursorBench (69.9% vs 67.2%), while Claude Opus 5 (63) and Claude Fable 5 (62) still sit ahead on the composite. At $2/$6, Grok 4.6 is the cheaper route to that capability tier — with far less of a track record.

**Should I move production workloads to Grok 4.6 now?**
Not yet. It's one evaluator deep and one day old. Evaluate this week — especially on Cursor and Grok Build with the 2x included usage — and let independent agentic and long-horizon benchmarks land before it touches production.

Canonical: https://neomanex.com/news/grok-4-6-launch