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DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Grok 4 Fast

Grok 4 Fast leads the LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 1.2.

DeepSeek · xAI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4 Fast leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 1.2, ranking #116 overall.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek VL2 Small

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

Choose Grok 4 Fast

  • overall performance matters — it scores 31.7 and ranks #116 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek VL2 Small
DeepSeek
Grok 4 Fast
xAI
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
1.2
#327
31.7
#116
Reasoning
-4.0
#345
30.7
#120
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
— / M
$0.20 / M
Output price
— / M
$0.50 / M
Context window
—
2,000,000

Individual benchmarks

14 reported for DeepSeek VL2 Small · 7 for Grok 4 Fast

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fastdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok 4 Fast specifies input context (2,000,000 tokens). Only Grok 4 Fast specifies output context (30,000 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
xAI
Grok 4 Fast
Input2,000,000 tokens
Output30,000 tokens
Wed Sep 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fast support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok 4 Fast

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek VL2 Small is licensed under deepseek, while Grok 4 Fast uses a proprietary license.

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

DeepSeek VL2 Small

deepseek

Open weights

Grok 4 Fast

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek VL2 Small was released on 2024-12-13, while Grok 4 Fast was released on 2025-08-28.

Grok 4 Fast is 9 months newer than DeepSeek VL2 Small.

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Dec 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

Grok 4 Fast

Aug 28, 2025

1.1 years ago

8mo 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

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fast side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek VL2 Small
✓ Preferred
Grok 4 Fast
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek VL2 Small vs Grok 4 Fast.

Which is better, DeepSeek VL2 Small or Grok 4 Fast?

Grok 4 Fast leads the LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 1.2. DeepSeek VL2 Small is made by DeepSeek and Grok 4 Fast is made by xAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek VL2 Small compare to Grok 4 Fast in benchmarks?

DeepSeek VL2 Small scores DocVQA: 92.3%, ChartQA: 84.5%, OCRBench: 83.4%, TextVQA: 83.4%, MMBench: 80.3%. Grok 4 Fast scores SimpleQA: 95.0%, HMMT 2025: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 92.0%, GPQA: 85.7%, LiveCodeBench: 80.0%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fast?

DeepSeek VL2 Small supports an unknown number of tokens and Grok 4 Fast supports 2.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fast?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (1.2 vs 31.7), licensing (deepseek vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek VL2 Small and Grok 4 Fast?

DeepSeek VL2 Small is developed by DeepSeek and Grok 4 Fast is developed by xAI.

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