GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Grok-2 mini
Grok-2 mini leads the LLM Stats Score 8.6 to -9.4.
OpenAI · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-2 mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 8.6 to -9.4, ranking #283 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 8.6 and ranks #283 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.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for GPT-3.5 Turbo · 8 for Grok-2 mini
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.
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).
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
Grok-2 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
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.
Mar 21, 2023
3.5 years ago
Aug 13, 2024
2.1 years ago
1.4yr newerKnowledge 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.
Sep 2021
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Outputs Comparison
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.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Grok-2 mini.