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Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507Which is better in 2026?

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is 1.1x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 — which is better?

Grok-3 Mini (by xAI) and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 (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-3 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Grok-3 Mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks

Choose Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.6x cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 ($0.80/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-3 Mini is more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.80
Best providerFireworks
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 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

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 uses Apache 2.0.

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

Grok-3 Mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 was released on 2025-07-22.

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is 5 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.5 years ago

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Jul 22, 2025

1.0 years ago

5mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507'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 Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is available from Fireworks, Novita.

Grok-3 Mini

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

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
* 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 2025 score (90.8% vs 70.3%)
Higher GPQA score (84.0% vs 77.5%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Has open weights
xAIGrok-3 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen TeamQwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-3 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507.

Which is better, Grok-3 Mini or Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-3 Mini compare to Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 in benchmarks?

Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 scores ZebraLogic: 95.0%, MMLU-Redux: 93.1%, IFEval: 88.7%, MultiPL-E: 87.9%, Creative Writing v3: 87.5%.

Is Grok-3 Mini cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 Mini costs $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output via xai. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 costs $0.15/M input and $0.80/M output via fireworks.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 supports 262K 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 Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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