Model Comparison

Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 7B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct — which is better?

Grok-1.5 (by xAI) and Qwen2.5 7B 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 7B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro). Qwen2.5 7B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-1.5 if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose Qwen2.5 7B 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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Grok-1.5 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

xAI
Grok-1.5
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen2.5 7B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

Grok-1.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-1.5 was released on 2024-03-28, while Qwen2.5 7B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is 6 months newer than Grok-1.5.

Grok-1.5

Mar 28, 2024

2.2 years ago

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

Sep 19, 2024

1.8 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

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

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (36.4% vs 35.9%)
Higher GSM8k score (91.6% vs 90.0%)
Higher HumanEval score (84.8% vs 74.1%)
Higher MATH score (75.5% vs 50.6%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (56.3% vs 51.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-1.5
✓ Preferred
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-1.5
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-1.5 vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct.

Which is better, Grok-1.5 or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-1.5 is made by xAI and Qwen2.5 7B 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 7B Instruct in benchmarks?

Grok-1.5 scores GSM8k: 90.0%, DocVQA: 85.6%, MMLU: 81.3%, HumanEval: 74.1%, MMMU: 53.6%. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct scores GSM8k: 91.6%, MT-Bench: 87.5%, HumanEval: 84.8%, MBPP: 79.2%, MATH: 75.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Grok-1.5 supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen2.5 7B 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 7B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-1.5 and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Grok-1.5 is developed by xAI and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.