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Grok-2 Image 1212 vs Grok-4.1 Thinking

Comparing Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinking across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · xAI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinking trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

Grok-4.1 Thinking also accepts a larger context window (256,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok-2 Image 1212

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose Grok-4.1 Thinking

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok-2 Image 1212
xAI
Grok-4.1 Thinking
xAI
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
— / M
$3.00 / M
Output price
— / M
$15.00 / M
Context window
131,072
256,000

Individual benchmarks

0 reported for Grok-2 Image 1212 · 11 for Grok-4.1 Thinking

No common benchmarks found

Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinkingdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Grok-4.1 Thinking accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Grok-2 Image 1212's 131,072 tokens. Only Grok-4.1 Thinking specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-2 Image 1212
Input131,072 tokens
Output- tokens
xAI
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Input256,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Tue Sep 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Grok-4.1 Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Grok-2 Image 1212 does not.

Grok-4.1 Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-2 Image 1212

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok-4.1 Thinking

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.

Grok-2 Image 1212

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok-4.1 Thinking

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-2 Image 1212 was released on 2024-12-12, while Grok-4.1 Thinking was released on 2025-11-17.

Grok-4.1 Thinking is 11 months newer than Grok-2 Image 1212.

Grok-2 Image 1212

Dec 12, 2024

1.7 years ago

Grok-4.1 Thinking

Nov 17, 2025

9 months ago

11mo 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

Provider Availability

Grok-2 Image 1212 is available from xAI. Grok-4.1 Thinking is available from xAI.

Grok-2 Image 1212

xai logo
xAI

Grok-4.1 Thinking

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-2 Image 1212
✓ Preferred
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-2 Image 1212 vs Grok-4.1 Thinking.

Which is better, Grok-2 Image 1212 or Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Grok-2 Image 1212 (xAI) and Grok-4.1 Thinking (xAI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok-2 Image 1212 compare to Grok-4.1 Thinking in benchmarks?

Grok-4.1 Thinking scores Creative Writing v3: 86.1%, WMDP: 84.0%, EQ-Bench: 79.3%, ProtocolQA: 79.0%, LMArena Text Leaderboard: 74.2%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Grok-2 Image 1212 supports 131K tokens and Grok-4.1 Thinking supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-2 Image 1212 and Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Key differences include context window (131K vs 256K), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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