Grok-3 Mini vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 are closely matched at 31.3 and 35.4 on the LLM Stats Score. Grok-3 Mini is 1.5x cheaper per token.
xAI · Meituan · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 31.3 and 35.4.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
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.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
Choose LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Grok-3 Mini · 11 for LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench).
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) costs the same as LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.4x cheaper than LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 ($1.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 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
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 was released on 2026-01-14.
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is 11 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.
Feb 17, 2025
1.6 years ago
Jan 14, 2026
8 months ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601'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-2601's cutoff date.
Nov 2024
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Provider Availability
Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is available from Meituan.
Grok-3 Mini
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601.