Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs MAI-Thinking-1Which is better in 2026?

MAI-Thinking-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-3 Mini vs MAI-Thinking-1 — which is better?

Grok-3 Mini (by xAI) and MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) 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 0 benchmarks, while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA). MAI-Thinking-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok-3 Mini if…

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

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

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 Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

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 Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

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

1.4 years ago

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 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

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Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Microsoft
Higher AIME 2025 score (97.0% vs 90.8%)
Higher GPQA score (84.2% vs 84.0%)
xAIGrok-3 Mini
MicrosoftMAI-Thinking-1
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

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
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1

FAQ

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

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

MAI-Thinking-1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. 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 benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities 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 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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