Grok-3 vs Grok 3 Mini
Benchmarks, API Token Pricing, Context Window & Speed Comparison
Related topics (12)
Grok-3 by xAI and Grok 3 Mini by xAI represent two of the frontier AI models analyzed in our comprehensive 2026 AI benchmark and LLM comparison. In this head-to-head evaluation, we examine API token pricing, context window specifications, inference speed (tokens per second), and empirical reasoning performance. From a pure economic perspective, Grok 3 Mini holds a notable pricing advantage for token ingestion. On output generation, Grok 3 Mini is more economical per million generated tokens. In data-heavy architectures requiring extensive repository or document analysis, Grok-3 provides an expanded memory horizon with 1,000K tokens. In latency-sensitive production environments, Grok-3 leads in tokens-per-second throughput, making it ideal for real-time conversational agents and high-concurrency workflows. Below is the complete empirical head-to-head breakdown across cost, speed, context, and capability matrices.
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Grok-3
深度推理模型xAI 推出的 Grok-3 人工智能模型，具备 1M 上下文窗口，输入价格为 $3/百万 Token，输出价格为 $15/百万 Token，专为高质量生产环境、推理与自动化工作流打造。
$3.00 / 1M
$15.00 / 1M
1M tokens
65.2%
Grok 3 Mini
深度推理模型xAI 推出的 Grok 3 Mini 人工智能模型，具备 131K 上下文窗口，输入价格为 $0.3/百万 Token，输出价格为 $1.2/百万 Token，专为高质量生产环境、推理与自动化工作流打造。
$0.30 / 1M
$1.20 / 1M
131.1K tokens
56.4%
核心差异一览
- Grok 3 Mini is 11.6x cheaper for API usage (input + output tokens combined).
- Grok-3 has a larger context window (1M vs 131K tokens).
- Grok-3 is faster at 95 tok/s vs 90 tok/s.
- Grok-3 leads on SWE-bench coding (65.2% vs 56.4%).
| Feature | Grok-3 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
Intelligence Index Composite reasoning & knowledge score (0-100) | 54 | 47 |
Provider | xAI | xAI |
Input Price Cost per million input tokens | $3.00 / 1M | $0.30 / 1M |
Output Price Cost per million output tokens | $15.00 / 1M | $1.20 / 1M |
Blended Price Weighted 7:2:1 cache:input:output per 1M | $2.63 / 1M | $0.23 / 1M |
Context Window Maximum input + output tokens | 1M tokens~1,500 A4 pages of text | 131.1K tokens~197 A4 pages of text |
Max Output Tokens Per single request | 33K | 16K |
Throughput Speed Tokens generated per second | 95 tok/s | 90 tok/s |
SWE-bench Verified Real-world software engineering | 65.2% | 56.4% |
GPQA Diamond Graduate-level reasoning | 74% | 68.4% |
Cached Input Price Prompt caching discount per 1M tokens | $0.75 / 1M | $0.07 / 1M |
各项指标谁更胜一筹？
At-a-glance decision framework权威基准测试得分对比
Official evaluation metrics verified by independent third-party research labs.
Industry benchmark evaluating real-world GitHub issue resolution and multi-file debugging.
Challenging questions created by domain experts to test complex PhD-level reasoning.
Hardened reasoning and academic knowledge benchmark with reduced lucky-guess probability.
Crowdsourced human preference evaluation based on blind, head-to-head model battles.
Extremely difficult, closed-ended questions spanning the frontier of human expert knowledge.
Autonomous multi-step tasks executed inside a real command-line terminal environment.
Research-grade coding problems drawn from real scientific and numerical workloads.
Contamination-free competitive programming problems collected continuously over time.
American Invitational Mathematics Examination — multi-step Olympiad-level reasoning.
Accuracy when reasoning over very large inputs that fill the model context window.
Tokens emitted per second during active generation streaming.
延迟与响应速度
Time to first token (TTFT) and estimated end-to-end response time for a typical 500-token response.
实时 Token 成本模拟器
Adjust sliders to calculate projected monthly cloud API spending with prompt caching discounts.
Grok-3 · Strengths & Key Advantages
- 由 xAI 研发的高精度 Hybrid Reasoning Deep MoE 架构，支持 1M 上下文窗口
- 极具竞争力的 API 定价（输入 $3/1M，输出 $15/1M），支持高速推理与工具调用
- 在代码生成、逻辑推理与多语言处理基准测试中表现出色
Considerations & Trade-offs
- 超长上下文请求需要规划 Token 成本与并发配额
- 针对特定垂直领域任务建议结合系统提示词与检索增强（RAG）以获得最佳效果
Grok 3 Mini · Strengths & Key Advantages
- 由 xAI 研发的高精度 Reasoning Optimized Hybrid Transformer 架构，支持 131K 上下文窗口
- 极具竞争力的 API 定价（输入 $0.3/1M，输出 $1.2/1M），支持高速推理与工具调用
- 在代码生成、逻辑推理与多语言处理基准测试中表现出色
Considerations & Trade-offs
- 超长上下文请求需要规划 Token 成本与并发配额
- 针对特定垂直领域任务建议结合系统提示词与检索增强（RAG）以获得最佳效果
Token Use & Task Economics
Estimated cost and token consumption to complete one representative agentic task.
| Metric | Grok-3 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
Cost per Task Estimated USD to finish one task | $0.20 | $0.32 |
Output Tokens / Task Tokens generated per task | 24K | 26K |
Reasoning Tokens / Task Thinking tokens burned per task | 15K | 18K |
技术规格参数
Architecture, release timeline, capabilities, and modalities.
| Feature | Grok-3 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Official API Model ID (SDK) | grok-3-latest | grok-3-mini-latest |
| API Protocol | xAI REST API (OpenAI-Compatible) | xAI REST API (OpenAI-Compatible) |
| Release Date | 2025-02 | 2025-02 |
| Knowledge Cutoff | Late 2024 | November 2024 |
| Architecture | Hybrid Reasoning Deep MoE | Reasoning Optimized Hybrid Transformer |
| Parameters | Confidential | Confidential |
| Enterprise Rate Limits (RPM / TPM) | 5,000 – 15,000 RPM (Production Tier) · 4,000,000 – 10,000,000 TPM | 5,000 – 15,000 RPM (Production Tier) · 800,000 – 2,000,000 TPM |
| Long-Context Tier (>128K/200K) | Flat rate ($3/1M in) across full 1000K window | Flat rate ($0.3/1M in) across full 131K window |
| Prompt Cache Policy & TTL | Cached input at $0.75/1M tokens | Cached input at $0.075/1M tokens |
| Computer Use / GUI Agent | API / CLI Tool-Use & DOM Agent ready (no raw pixel desktop click loop) | API / CLI Tool-Use & DOM Agent ready (no raw pixel desktop click loop) |
| MCP & Parallel Tool Calling | Native MCP Client/Server ready · Parallel function calling · 100% Strict JSON Schema | Native MCP Client/Server ready · Parallel function calling · 100% Strict JSON Schema |
| Web Search Grounding & Sandbox | Real-time Web & X (Twitter) Search Grounding + Code Execution | Real-time Web & X (Twitter) Search Grounding + Code Execution |
| Official Fine-Tuning Support | API Prompt Engineering & RAG Distillation | API Prompt Engineering & RAG Distillation |
| Multimodal Token Billing | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) · Vision (~258–765 tokens per image tile) | Text BPE (~4 chars/token) |
| Quantization & Min GPU VRAM | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) | Cloud-Hosted Proprietary (FP8 / BF16 Tensor Core Cluster) · Zero Local VRAM Required (100% Serverless Cloud API) |
| Safety & Frontier Classification | xAI Production Safety & Alignment Verified | xAI Production Safety & Alignment Verified |
| Enterprise Compliance (ZDR/HIPAA/SOC2) | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier | SOC2 Type II · GDPR · Zero Data Retention (ZDR) & HIPAA BAA Available on Enterprise Tier |
| Input Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Output Modalities | text | text |
Grok-3 vs Grok 3 Mini: 常见问题解答 (FAQ)
Which is more intelligent, Grok-3 or Grok 3 Mini?
Grok-3 is more intelligent. It scores 54 compared with 47 on the composite Intelligence Index.
Which model is faster?
Grok-3 is faster, generating 95 tokens per second compared with 90 tokens per second.
Which model is cheaper to run?
Grok 3 Mini is cheaper at $0.23 per 1M tokens blended, compared with $2.63 (7:2:1 cache:input:output ratio).
Which model has lower latency?
Grok 3 Mini has lower latency, with a time to first token of 0.51s compared with 1.10s.
Which model has a larger context window?
Grok-3 has a larger context window, supporting 1M tokens compared with 131.1K tokens.
综合结论
Verdict & Model Selection Recommendation: Choose Grok-3 if your priority is Frontier algorithmic development, complex technical architecture, and mathematical proofs. Its performance in demanding tasks justifies its operational token cost. Choose Grok 3 Mini if your workflow prioritizes Automated code reviews, real-time debugging agents, and mathematical data analysis. For large-scale batch processing or customer-facing conversational interfaces, its balance of speed and economics delivers superior ROI.
常见问题 (FAQ)
How does Grok-3 compare to Grok 3 Mini in API token pricing and cost per token?+
Grok-3 costs $3.00 per 1M input tokens and $15.00 per 1M output tokens, whereas Grok 3 Mini costs $0.30 input and $1.20 output. Overall, Grok 3 Mini is the more cost-effective model for high-volume API pipelines. Both models support prompt caching discounts of up to 90% for repeated prompt prefixes.
Which model has a larger context window: Grok-3 or Grok 3 Mini?+
Grok-3 supports a context window of 1,000K tokens (~750k words), while Grok 3 Mini supports 131K tokens (~98k words). Therefore, Grok-3 can process more textual data and document context in a single prompt.
Which AI model is better for software engineering and coding: Grok-3 or Grok 3 Mini?+
Grok-3 scores 65.2% on SWE-bench Verified while Grok 3 Mini scores 56.4%. For autonomous software engineering and multi-file debugging, Grok-3 holds the verified benchmark lead.
What is the difference in reasoning capability and extended thinking between Grok-3 and Grok 3 Mini?+
Grok-3 features native chain-of-thought extended thinking mode with configurable reasoning effort. In contrast, Grok 3 Mini provides chain-of-thought reasoning depth for complex math and science.
How does inference speed (tokens per second) compare between Grok-3 and Grok 3 Mini?+
Grok-3 generates approximately 95 tokens per second, while Grok 3 Mini delivers 90 tokens per second. In latency-sensitive production environments, Grok-3 provides faster time-to-first-token (TTFT) and higher streaming response velocity.
Can you implement a tiered LLM routing setup combining Grok-3 and Grok 3 Mini to optimize costs?+
Yes! High-efficiency architectures route high-frequency routine classification and conversational tasks to Grok 3 Mini to save operational costs, and dynamically escalate complex architectural queries or reasoning tasks to Grok-3. This tiered routing pattern cuts overall API bills by up to 70%.
Understand key metrics like context window, token pricing, reasoning mode, and SWE-bench scores in our comprehensive AI glossary.
Related reading
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- Aion-3.0 vs Aion-Mini: Benchmarks, Pricing & Speed Comparison对比
- Aion-3.0 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash: Benchmarks, Pricing & Speed Comparison对比
Benchmark scores, token prices, and rate limits evolve rapidly as AI labs release model updates. Always verify current specifications and pricing on the official provider documentation.
数据来源: GetInfoUs Independent AI Benchmarks & Official API Specs