Model Comparison

Codestral-22B vs Grok-2 miniWhich is better in 2026?

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Codestral-22B vs Grok-2 mini — which is better?

Codestral-22B (by Mistral AI) and Grok-2 mini (by xAI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Codestral-22B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-2 mini is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval). Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Codestral-22B if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Grok-2 mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Codestral-22B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-2 mini is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval).

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jun 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-2 mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas Codestral-22B does not.

Grok-2 mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Codestral-22B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok-2 mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Codestral-22B is licensed under MNPL-0.1, while Grok-2 mini uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Codestral-22B

MNPL-0.1

Open weights

Grok-2 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Codestral-22B was released on 2024-05-29, while Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13.

Grok-2 mini is 3 months newer than Codestral-22B.

Codestral-22B

May 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

Grok-2 mini

Aug 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

2mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Mistral AI
Has open weights
xAI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher HumanEval score (85.7% vs 81.1%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Mistral AI
Codestral-22B
xAI
Grok-2 mini

FAQ

Common questions about Codestral-22B vs Grok-2 mini.

Which is better, Codestral-22B or Grok-2 mini?

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Codestral-22B is made by Mistral AI and Grok-2 mini is made by xAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Codestral-22B compare to Grok-2 mini in benchmarks?

Codestral-22B scores HumanEvalFIM-Average: 91.6%, HumanEval: 81.1%, MBPP: 78.2%, Spider: 63.5%, HumanEval-Average: 61.5%. Grok-2 mini scores DocVQA: 93.2%, MMLU: 86.2%, HumanEval: 85.7%, MATH: 73.0%, MMLU-Pro: 72.0%.

What are the main differences between Codestral-22B and Grok-2 mini?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MNPL-0.1 vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Codestral-22B and Grok-2 mini?

Codestral-22B is developed by Mistral AI and Grok-2 mini is developed by xAI.

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