Model Comparison

Grok-2 mini vs o3Which is better in 2026?

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-2 mini vs o3 — which is better?

Grok-2 mini (by xAI) and o3 (by OpenAI) 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-2 mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MathVista, MMMU). o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-2 mini if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose o3 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Grok-2 mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MathVista, MMMU).

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only o3 specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only o3 specifies output context (100,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-2 mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
o3
Input200,000 tokens
Output100,000 tokens
Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-2 mini and o3 support multimodal inputs.

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

Grok-2 mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

o3

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 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

o3

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13, while o3 was released on 2025-04-16.

o3 is 8 months newer than Grok-2 mini.

Grok-2 mini

Aug 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

o3

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

8mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

o3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Grok-2 mini's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm o3's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok-2 mini's cutoff date.

Grok-2 mini

—

o3

May 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

xAI

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

OpenAI
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (83.3% vs 51.0%)
Higher MathVista score (86.8% vs 68.1%)
Higher MMMU score (82.9% vs 63.2%)
xAIGrok-2 mini
OpenAIo3
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Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-2 mini
OpenAI
o3

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-2 mini vs o3.

Which is better, Grok-2 mini or o3?

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-2 mini is made by xAI and o3 is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-2 mini compare to o3 in benchmarks?

Grok-2 mini scores DocVQA: 93.2%, MMLU: 86.2%, HumanEval: 85.7%, MATH: 73.0%, MMLU-Pro: 72.0%. o3 scores COLLIE: 98.4%, AIME 2024: 91.6%, ARC-AGI: 88.0%, MathVista: 86.8%, AIME 2025: 86.4%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-2 mini and o3?

Grok-2 mini supports an unknown number of tokens and o3 supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

Who makes Grok-2 mini and o3?

Grok-2 mini is developed by xAI and o3 is developed by OpenAI.

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