Model Comparison

Grok-2 mini vs QwQ-32B-PreviewWhich is better in 2026?

QwQ-32B-Preview significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-2 mini vs QwQ-32B-Preview — which is better?

Grok-2 mini (by xAI) and QwQ-32B-Preview (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-2 mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while QwQ-32B-Preview is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). QwQ-32B-Preview significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-2 mini if…

  • you are already invested in the xAI ecosystem

Choose QwQ-32B-Preview if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2024
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok-2 mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while QwQ-32B-Preview is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

QwQ-32B-Preview significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only QwQ-32B-Preview specifies input context (32,768 tokens). Only QwQ-32B-Preview specifies output context (32,768 tokens).

xAI
Grok-2 mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QwQ-32B-Preview
Input32,768 tokens
Output32,768 tokens
Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-2 mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas QwQ-32B-Preview does not.

Grok-2 mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-2 mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

QwQ-32B-Preview

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-2 mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while QwQ-32B-Preview uses Apache 2.0.

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

Grok-2 mini

Proprietary

Closed source

QwQ-32B-Preview

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-2 mini was released on 2024-08-13, while QwQ-32B-Preview was released on 2024-11-28.

QwQ-32B-Preview is 4 months newer than Grok-2 mini.

Grok-2 mini

Aug 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

QwQ-32B-Preview

Nov 28, 2024

1.5 years ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

QwQ-32B-Preview has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-28, while Grok-2 mini's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm QwQ-32B-Preview's training data extends to 2024-11-28, but cannot make a direct comparison without Grok-2 mini's cutoff date.

Grok-2 mini

—

QwQ-32B-Preview

Nov 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

xAI
Supports multimodal inputs
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

QwQ-32B-Preview

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (32,768 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (65.2% vs 51.0%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-2 mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QwQ-32B-Preview

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-2 mini vs QwQ-32B-Preview.

Which is better, Grok-2 mini or QwQ-32B-Preview?

QwQ-32B-Preview significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-2 mini is made by xAI and QwQ-32B-Preview 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-2 mini compare to QwQ-32B-Preview in benchmarks?

Grok-2 mini scores DocVQA: 93.2%, MMLU: 86.2%, HumanEval: 85.7%, MATH: 73.0%, MMLU-Pro: 72.0%. QwQ-32B-Preview scores MATH-500: 90.6%, GPQA: 65.2%, AIME 2024: 50.0%, LiveCodeBench: 50.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-2 mini and QwQ-32B-Preview?

Grok-2 mini supports an unknown number of tokens and QwQ-32B-Preview supports 33K 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 mini and QwQ-32B-Preview?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-2 mini and QwQ-32B-Preview?

Grok-2 mini is developed by xAI and QwQ-32B-Preview is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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