Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is 1.9x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Apr 29 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Grok-3 Mini costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 4.2x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is more expensive than Grok-3 Mini.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Apr 29 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Input tokens$0.18
Output tokens$2.09
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 8B Thinking
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Wed Apr 29 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 8B Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 8B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 7 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.2 years ago

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

7 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 8B Thinking'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 8B Thinking's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.

Grok-3 Mini

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

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.18/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.09/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

xAI
Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2025 score (90.8% vs 80.3%)
Higher GPQA score (84.0% vs 69.9%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

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 8B Thinking
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Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 93.6%, MMLU-Redux: 88.8%, MMBench-V1.1: 87.5%, InfoVQAtest: 86.0%.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 Mini costs $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output via xai. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking costs $0.18/M input and $2.09/M output via deepinfra.
Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (128K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.18/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.