Model Comparison

Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct — which is better?

Grok-1.5 (by xAI) and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.

Grok-1.5 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro). Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-1.5 if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Grok-1.5 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jun 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

xAI
Grok-1.5
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Sun Jun 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct uses Qwen.

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

Grok-1.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

Qwen

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-1.5 was released on 2024-03-28, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 6 months newer than Grok-1.5.

Grok-1.5

Mar 28, 2024

2.2 years ago

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

Sep 19, 2024

1.7 years ago

5mo 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→

Key Takeaways

xAI

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

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (49.0% vs 35.9%)
Higher GSM8k score (95.8% vs 90.0%)
Higher HumanEval score (86.6% vs 74.1%)
Higher MATH score (83.1% vs 50.6%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (71.1% vs 51.0%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-1.5
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.

Which is better, Grok-1.5 or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-1.5 is made by xAI and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-1.5 compare to Qwen2.5 72B Instruct in benchmarks?

Grok-1.5 scores GSM8k: 90.0%, DocVQA: 85.6%, MMLU: 81.3%, HumanEval: 74.1%, MMMU: 53.6%. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct scores GSM8k: 95.8%, MT-Bench: 93.5%, MBPP: 88.2%, MMLU-Redux: 86.8%, HumanEval: 86.6%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Grok-1.5 supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Qwen). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Grok-1.5 is developed by xAI and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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