Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 1.6x cheaper per token.

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) is 3.0x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-3 Mini is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 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 VL 4B Instruct
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Tue May 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Grok-3 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct 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 VL 4B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 7 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.3 years ago

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

8 months ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct'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 VL 4B Instruct's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Provider Availability

Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.

Grok-3 Mini

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

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2025 score (90.8% vs 46.6%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Has open weights
xAIGrok-3 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen TeamQwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.

Which is better, Grok-3 Mini or Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct 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 VL 4B Instruct in benchmarks?

Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 94.0%, OCRBench: 88.1%, MMBench-V1.1: 85.1%, AI2D: 84.1%.

Is Grok-3 Mini cheaper than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 3.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 Mini costs $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output via xai. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.60/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct 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 VL 4B Instruct?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.10/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct?

Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.