Model Comparison
Grok-2 vs Qwen2.5 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 11.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Grok-2 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct — which is better?
Grok-2 (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-2 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MATH). Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is roughly 11.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Grok-2 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct if…
- cost matters — it's about 11.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
- 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
Grok-2 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MATH).
Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-2 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 5.7x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-2 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-2 is more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Grok-2's 128,000 tokens. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 8,192 tokens, while Grok-2 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Grok-2 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2.5 72B Instruct does not.
Grok-2 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok-2
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-2 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.
Proprietary
Closed source
Qwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok-2 was released on 2024-08-13, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 1 month newer than Grok-2.
Aug 13, 2024
2.0 years ago
Sep 19, 2024
1.9 years ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Grok-2 is available from xAI. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Fireworks, Together.
Grok-2
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-2 and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Grok-2 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.