Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs LongCat-Flash-ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is 1.5x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Grok-3 Mini vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking — which is better?

Grok-3 Mini (by xAI) and LongCat-Flash-Thinking (by Meituan) 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-3 Mini outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA, LiveCodeBench), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Grok-3 Mini is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose Grok-3 Mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
  • cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token

Choose LongCat-Flash-Thinking if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA, LiveCodeBench), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Grok-3 Mini costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) costs the same as LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.4x cheaper than LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($1.20/1M tokens).

In conclusion, LongCat-Flash-Thinking is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. LongCat-Flash-Thinking can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Thinking does not.

Grok-3 Mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-3 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking uses MIT.

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

Grok-3 Mini

Proprietary

Closed source

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking is 7 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.4 years ago

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

10 months ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without LongCat-Flash-Thinking's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. LongCat-Flash-Thinking is available from Meituan.

Grok-3 Mini

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2024 score (95.8% vs 93.3%)
Higher AIME 2025 score (90.8% vs 90.6%)
Higher GPQA score (84.0% vs 81.5%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (80.4% vs 79.4%)
Meituan
Has open weights
xAIGrok-3 Mini
MeituanLongCat-Flash-Thinking
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-3 Mini
✓ Preferred
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking.

Which is better, Grok-3 Mini or LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and LongCat-Flash-Thinking is made by Meituan. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-3 Mini compare to LongCat-Flash-Thinking in benchmarks?

Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. LongCat-Flash-Thinking scores MATH-500: 99.2%, ZebraLogic: 95.5%, AIME 2024: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 90.6%, MMLU-Redux: 89.3%.

Is Grok-3 Mini cheaper than LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Both models cost $0.30 per million input tokens.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and LongCat-Flash-Thinking supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

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

Who makes Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and LongCat-Flash-Thinking is developed by Meituan.

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