| Signal | Grok 3 Mini | Delta | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 83 | -17 | |
Benchmarks | 48 | -28 | |
Pricing | 100 | -- | |
Context window size | 81 | -19 | |
Recency | 72 | -28 | |
Output Capacity | 20 | -55 | |
| Overall Result | 0 wins | of 6 | 5 wins |
Score History
50.6
current score
Grok 4.1 Fast
right now
78
current score
xAI
xAI
Grok 4.1 Fast saves you $10.00/month
That's $120.00/year compared to Grok 3 Mini at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Grok 3 Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 51 | 78 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Rank | #171 | #52 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Quality Rank | #171 | #52 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Adoption Rank | #171 | #52 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 131K | 2000K | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Pricing | $0.30/$0.50/M | $0.20/$0.50/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 83 | 100 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Benchmarks | 48 | 76 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Pricing | 100 | 100 | Grok 3 Mini |
| Context window size | 81 | 100 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Recency | 72 | 100 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
| Output Capacity | 20 | 75 | Grok 4.1 Fast |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 51/100 (rank #171), placing it in the top 41% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 78/100 (rank #52), placing it in the top 82% of all 290 models tracked.
Grok 4.1 Fast has a 27-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Grok 4.1 Fast offers 13% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $10.50/month with Grok 4.1 Fast vs $12.00/month with Grok 3 Mini - a $1.50 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. Grok 3 Mini also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (2000K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.50/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (78/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
Grok 4.1 Fast clearly outperforms Grok 3 Mini with a significant 27.4-point lead. For most general use cases, Grok 4.1 Fast is the stronger choice. However, Grok 3 Mini may still excel in niche scenarios.
Best for Quality
Grok 3 Mini
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Grok 4.1 Fast
13% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Grok 3 Mini
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Grok 3 Mini
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Grok 3 Mini
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by xAI
| Capability | Grok 3 Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input)differs | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
xAI
xAI
Grok 4.1 Fast saves you $0.1800/month
That's 16% cheaper than Grok 3 Mini at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Grok 3 Mini | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 131K | 2M |
| Max Output Tokens | -- | 30,000 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Jun 10, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 |