Strong coding and reasoning at its July 2025 launch
256K-token context window
Fast and responsive for exploration and open-ended research loops
Weaknesses
Retired from xAI's API on May 15, 2026
Less established ecosystem and tooling than OpenAI or Anthropic
Real-world use cases
What people actually use Grok 4 for.
Early-stage research mapping — exploring a new topic before narrowing down
Analyzing codebases and datasets within a 256K-token context window
Competitive intelligence and market research with broad, fast synthesis
How Grok 4 compares
The nearest models people weigh against it, and what actually separates them.
vs Grok 3 — Against Grok 3 (xAI), Grok 4 lands within a few percent on price, takes 2x the context and answers faster. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
vs Grok 3 Beta — Against Grok 3 Beta (xAI), Grok 4 lands within a few percent on price, takes 2x the context and answers faster. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
vs Grok 3 Mini — Against Grok 3 Mini (xAI), Grok 4 costs about 96% more per token and takes 2x the context. Grok 3 Mini is the one to check first if the price difference matters more than the ceiling.
Price History
Grok 4 pricing over time
↑50% since Jun 14
90 data points · tracked daily since Jun 14, 2026
Ready to try it?
Start using Grok 4
Historical reference — use Grok 4.7 for new work. Start free — no card required.
Grok 3 is xAI's flagship large language model, trained on a massive dataset including real-time X (Twitter) data and designed for advanced reasoning, coding, and research tasks. It competes directly with GPT-4o and Claude Sonnet 4 at a similar price point.
Verdict
A strong STEM-focused flagship with unique real-time X data access, but priced high for what it delivers versus Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o.
Quality score
68%
Pricing
$3.00/1M in
$15.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
131k tokens
Available via xAI API and integrated into X Premium subscriptions. Real-time X data access is a differentiating feature not available on competing models. Pricing is competitive but output costs are on the higher end for balanced-tier models.
FlagshipSTEMReal-time dataReasoningxAI
Best for
Users who need strong reasoning and coding capabilities with access to real-time X/Twitter data for current events and social context.
Grok 3 Beta is xAI's flagship large language model, trained on a massive dataset with claimed real-time access to X (Twitter) data and strong reasoning capabilities. It competes directly with frontier models like Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-4o across coding, analysis, and general tasks.
Verdict
A powerful but unproven flagship that earns its place for STEM and real-time social data use cases, but the beta tag means it's not yet ready to dethrone Anthropic or OpenAI at this price.
Quality score
71%
Pricing
$3.00/1M in
$15.00/1M out
Speed
Balanced
3/5 speed
Context
131k tokens
Model is currently in beta, meaning capabilities and pricing may change. Real-time X data integration depends on xAI's API access policies, which may be subject to change. No image generation support confirmed.
FrontierSTEMReal-timexAIBeta
Best for
Users who want a frontier-capable model with real-time social context from X and strong STEM reasoning at a mid-range price point.
Grok 3 Mini is xAI's lightweight, budget-tier reasoning model built on the Grok 3 architecture, designed to deliver strong logical and analytical performance at a fraction of the cost of flagship models. It targets cost-sensitive workloads where reasoning quality still matters.
Verdict
A sharp budget reasoning model that earns its place when logic matters more than creativity or multimodal support.
Quality score
57%
Pricing
$0.30/1M in
$0.50/1M out
Speed
Fast
4/5 speed
Context
131k tokens
Pricing is highly competitive at $0.30 input / $0.50 output per million tokens. Context window is 131K tokens. No vision/image input support. xAI's API platform is newer and may have availability or rate-limit considerations compared to established providers.
BudgetReasoningLightweightLow CostxAI
Best for
Developers and researchers who need solid reasoning and logic tasks at near-throwaway pricing without committing to a full flagship model.
Grok 4 costs $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens on the API. A month of 10M input and 2M output tokens runs about $60.00 at list price, before any batch or caching discounts.
What is Grok 4 best for?
Grok 4 is best for historical reference — use grok 4.7 for new work. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around balanced pricing and fast speed.
When should I avoid Grok 4?
You need the highest writing quality or the most reliable production-grade output — Claude wins both.
What is a cheaper alternative to Grok 4?
Grok 3 Mini (xAI) at $0.30/1M/1M input against Grok 4's $3.00/1M/1M — roughly 96% less per token all in. A sharp budget reasoning model that earns its place when logic matters more than creativity or multimodal support. Compare it first if Grok 4's pricing is the thing stopping you.
What is a faster alternative to Grok 4?
Grok 3 — balanced against Grok 4's fast, with 131k tokens of context. Worth the swap when response time is what your users notice rather than the last few points of reasoning depth.
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