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Grok-3 Mini vs MAI-Thinking-1

Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1 are closely matched at 31.3 and 33.0 on the LLM Stats Score.

xAI · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 31.3 and 33.0.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, MAI-Thinking-1 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok-3 Mini

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output

Choose MAI-Thinking-1

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok-3 Mini
xAI
MAI-Thinking-1
Microsoft
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
31.3
#114
33.0
#105
Reasoning
30.9
#115
33.8
#96
Coding
18.7
#113
19.3
#109
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 2
2 of 2
Input price
$0.30 / M
— / M
Output price
$0.50 / M
— / M
Context window
128,000
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Grok-3 Mini
MAI-Thinking-1
Math
28.3#94
33.7#53
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for Grok-3 Mini · 23 for MAI-Thinking-1

2 shared

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).

MAI-Thinking-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok-3 Mini specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Grok-3 Mini specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Thinking-1 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

MAI-Thinking-1

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-3 Mini

Proprietary

Closed source

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02.

MAI-Thinking-1 is 16 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.6 years ago

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

3 months ago

1.3yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while MAI-Thinking-1'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 MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

MAI-Thinking-1

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-3 Mini
✓ Preferred
MAI-Thinking-1
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs MAI-Thinking-1.

Which is better, Grok-3 Mini or MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1 are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 31.3 and 33.0. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Grok-3 Mini compare to MAI-Thinking-1 in benchmarks?

Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of 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 MAI-Thinking-1?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (31.3 vs 33.0), multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 Mini and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft.

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