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Grok-3 vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Grok-3 has a slight edge in benchmark performance. LongCat-Flash-Thinking is 11.4x cheaper per token.

xAI · Meituan · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-3 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-3 has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

On price, LongCat-Flash-Thinking is roughly 11.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok-3

  • you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output

Choose LongCat-Flash-Thinking

  • cost matters — it's about 11.4x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok-3
xAI
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Meituan
Benchmark wins
2 of 4
2 of 4
Input price
$3.00 / M
$0.30 / M
Output price
$15.00 / M
$1.20 / M
Context window
128,000
128,000
Released
Feb 2025
Sep 2025
License
Proprietary
MIT

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

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

Grok-3 has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

LongCat-Flash-Thinking costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 12.5x more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($1.20/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-3 is more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Thinking.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerxAI
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. LongCat-Flash-Thinking can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok-3 is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-3
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas LongCat-Flash-Thinking does not.

Grok-3 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 is licensed under a proprietary license, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking uses MIT.

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

Grok-3

Proprietary

Closed source

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 was released on 2025-02-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking is 7 months newer than Grok-3.

Grok-3

Feb 17, 2025

1.5 years ago

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

11 months ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok-3's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without LongCat-Flash-Thinking's cutoff date.

Grok-3

Nov 2024

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 is available from xAI. LongCat-Flash-Thinking is available from Meituan.

Grok-3

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

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

Grok-3
✓ Preferred
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking.

Which is better, Grok-3 or LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Grok-3 is made by xAI and LongCat-Flash-Thinking is made by Meituan. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-3 compare to LongCat-Flash-Thinking in benchmarks?

Grok-3 scores AIME 2024: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 93.3%, GPQA: 84.6%, LiveCodeBench: 79.4%, MMMU: 78.0%. LongCat-Flash-Thinking scores MATH-500: 99.2%, ZebraLogic: 95.5%, AIME 2024: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 90.6%, MMLU-Redux: 89.3%.

Is Grok-3 cheaper than LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

LongCat-Flash-Thinking is 10.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via xai. LongCat-Flash-Thinking costs $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output via meituan.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 supports 128K tokens and LongCat-Flash-Thinking supports 128K 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 and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Key differences include input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.30/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Grok-3 is developed by xAI and LongCat-Flash-Thinking is developed by Meituan.

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