Claude 3 Opus vs Grok-3 Mini
Grok-3 Mini leads the LLM Stats Score 31.6 to 10.4. Grok-3 Mini is 85.7x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 Mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.6 to 10.4, ranking #96 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-3 Mini wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Grok-3 Mini is roughly 85.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude 3 Opus also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude 3 Opus
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.6 and ranks #96 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 85.7x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Claude 3 Opus · 4 for Grok-3 Mini
Claude 3 Opus outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-3 Mini is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3 Opus ($15.00/1M tokens) is 50.0x more expensive than Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3 Opus ($75.00/1M tokens) is 150.0x more expensive than Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3 Opus is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude 3 Opus accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Claude 3 Opus can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude 3 Opus and Grok-3 Mini support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3 Opus
Grok-3 Mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3 Opus was released on 2024-02-29, while Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17.
Grok-3 Mini is 12 months newer than Claude 3 Opus.
Feb 29, 2024
2.5 years ago
Feb 17, 2025
1.5 years ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Claude 3 Opus's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3 Opus's cutoff date.
—
Nov 2024
Provider Availability
Claude 3 Opus is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI.
Claude 3 Opus
Grok-3 Mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3 Opus and Grok-3 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3 Opus vs Grok-3 Mini.