Model Comparison
GPT-5 Medium vs Grok Code Fast 1Which is better in 2026?
Comparing GPT-5 Medium and Grok Code Fast 1 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
Verdict: GPT-5 Medium vs Grok Code Fast 1 — which is better?
GPT-5 Medium (by OpenAI) and Grok Code Fast 1 (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.
On price, Grok Code Fast 1 is roughly 6.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GPT-5 Medium also accepts a larger context window (400,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GPT-5 Medium if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 400,000 token context window
Choose Grok Code Fast 1 if…
- cost matters — it's about 6.5x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-5 Medium and Grok Code Fast 1don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-5 Medium ($1.25/1M tokens) is 6.3x more expensive than Grok Code Fast 1 ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-5 Medium ($10.00/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than Grok Code Fast 1 ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-5 Medium is more expensive than Grok Code Fast 1.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GPT-5 Medium accepts 400,000 input tokens compared to Grok Code Fast 1's 256,000 tokens. GPT-5 Medium can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok Code Fast 1 is limited to 10,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
GPT-5 Medium supports multimodal inputs, whereas Grok Code Fast 1 does not.
GPT-5 Medium can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-5 Medium
Grok Code Fast 1
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-5 Medium was released on 2025-08-07, while Grok Code Fast 1 was released on 2025-08-28.
Grok Code Fast 1 is 1 month newer than GPT-5 Medium.
Aug 7, 2025
10 months ago
Aug 28, 2025
9 months ago
3w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-5 Medium has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-09-30, while Grok Code Fast 1's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-5 Medium's training data extends to 2024-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok Code Fast 1's cutoff date.
Sep 2024
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Provider Availability
GPT-5 Medium is available from OpenAI. Grok Code Fast 1 is available from xAI.
GPT-5 Medium
Grok Code Fast 1
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
GPT-5 Medium
View detailsOpenAI
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5 Medium vs Grok Code Fast 1.