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GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Grok-2 mini

Grok-2 mini leads the LLM Stats Score 9.1 to -8.8.

OpenAI · xAI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-2 mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 9.1 to -8.8, ranking #253 overall.

In the 6 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-2 mini wins 6; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

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

Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output

Choose Grok-2 mini

  • overall performance matters — it scores 9.1 and ranks #253 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 6 of 6 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

GPT-3.5 Turbo
OpenAI
Grok-2 mini
xAI
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
-8.8
#342
9.1
#253
Reasoning
-8.1
#335
8.7
#255
Coding
-4.4
#240
6.0
#179
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 6
6 of 6
Input price
$0.50 / M
— / M
Output price
$1.50 / M
— / M
Context window
16,385
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

3 shared
Index
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Grok-2 mini
Math
-1.9#294
16.0#199
Vision
-15.9#199
6.4#139
Multimodal
-14.1#159
9.6#111
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

8 reported for GPT-3.5 Turbo · 8 for Grok-2 mini

6 shared

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-2 mini is better at 6 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MathVista, MMLU, MMMU).

Grok-2 mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Aug 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies input context (16,385 tokens). Only GPT-3.5 Turbo specifies output context (4,096 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
xAI
Grok-2 mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Aug 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Grok-2 mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.

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

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok-2 mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok-2 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13.

Grok-2 mini is 17 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.4 years ago

Grok-2 mini

Aug 13, 2024

2.0 years ago

1.4yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Grok-2 mini's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok-2 mini's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

Grok-2 mini

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Grok-2 mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-3.5 Turbo
✓ Preferred
Grok-2 mini
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Grok-2 mini.

Which is better, GPT-3.5 Turbo or Grok-2 mini?

Grok-2 mini leads the LLM Stats Score 9.1 to -8.8. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and Grok-2 mini is made by xAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does GPT-3.5 Turbo compare to Grok-2 mini in benchmarks?

GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. Grok-2 mini scores DocVQA: 93.2%, MMLU: 86.2%, HumanEval: 85.7%, MATH: 73.0%, MMLU-Pro: 72.0%.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-3.5 Turbo and Grok-2 mini?

GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and Grok-2 mini supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between GPT-3.5 Turbo and Grok-2 mini?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (-8.8 vs 9.1), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes GPT-3.5 Turbo and Grok-2 mini?

GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI and Grok-2 mini is developed by xAI.

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