Model Comparison

GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok-2 miniWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok-2 mini — which is better?

GPT-5.6 Sol (by OpenAI) 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.

GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Grok-2 mini is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose GPT-5.6 Sol if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose Grok-2 mini if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Grok-2 mini is better at 0 benchmarks.

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Sol
Input1,050,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
xAI
Grok-2 mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both GPT-5.6 Sol and Grok-2 mini support multimodal inputs.

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

GPT-5.6 Sol

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-5.6 Sol

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok-2 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-5.6 Sol was released on 2026-07-09, while Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13.

GPT-5.6 Sol is 23 months newer than Grok-2 mini.

GPT-5.6 Sol

Jul 9, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.9yr newer
Grok-2 mini

Aug 13, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.6 Sol has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Grok-2 mini's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-5.6 Sol's training data extends to 2026-02-16, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok-2 mini's cutoff date.

GPT-5.6 Sol

Feb 2026

Grok-2 mini

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Larger context window (1,050,000 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (94.6% vs 51.0%)

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-5.6 Sol and Grok-2 mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-5.6 Sol
✓ Preferred
Grok-2 mini
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Sol
xAI
Grok-2 mini

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok-2 mini.

Which is better, GPT-5.6 Sol or Grok-2 mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol is made by OpenAI 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 GPT-5.6 Sol compare to Grok-2 mini in benchmarks?

GPT-5.6 Sol scores Connectors: 100.0%, Capture-the-Flag Challenges (Internal): 96.7%, HealthBench Consensus: 95.5%, GPQA: 94.6%, MRCR v2 (8-needle): 91.5%. 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-5.6 Sol and Grok-2 mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol supports 1.1M 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.

Who makes GPT-5.6 Sol and Grok-2 mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol is developed by OpenAI and Grok-2 mini is developed by xAI.