The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning vs Grok-4.1 Thinking

Comparing Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · xAI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

On price, Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning is roughly 21.8x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning also accepts a larger context window (2,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

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

Choose Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning

  • cost matters — it's about 21.8x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 2,000,000 token context window

Choose Grok-4.1 Thinking

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning
xAI
Grok-4.1 Thinking
xAI
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.20 / M
$3.00 / M
Output price
$0.50 / M
$15.00 / M
Context window
2,000,000
256,000
Released
Aug 2025
Nov 2025
License
Proprietary
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinkingdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning costs less

For input processing, Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning ($0.20/1M tokens) is 15.0x cheaper than Grok-4.1 Thinking ($3.00/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning ($0.50/1M tokens) is 30.0x cheaper than Grok-4.1 Thinking ($15.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-4.1 Thinking is more expensive than Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
xAI
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerxAI
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning accepts 2,000,000 input tokens compared to Grok-4.1 Thinking's 256,000 tokens. Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning can generate longer responses up to 30,000 tokens, while Grok-4.1 Thinking is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning
Input2,000,000 tokens
Output30,000 tokens
xAI
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Input256,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking support multimodal inputs.

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

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok-4.1 Thinking

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-4 Fast Non-Reasoning

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok-4.1 Thinking

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning was released on 2025-08-28, while Grok-4.1 Thinking was released on 2025-11-17.

Grok-4.1 Thinking is 3 months newer than Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning.

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning

Aug 28, 2025

12 months ago

Grok-4.1 Thinking

Nov 17, 2025

9 months ago

2mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning is available from xAI. Grok-4.1 Thinking is available from xAI.

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M

Grok-4.1 Thinking

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
* 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-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning
✓ Preferred
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning vs Grok-4.1 Thinking.

Which is better, Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning or Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning (xAI) and Grok-4.1 Thinking (xAI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning compare to Grok-4.1 Thinking in benchmarks?

Grok-4.1 Thinking scores Creative Writing v3: 86.1%, WMDP: 84.0%, EQ-Bench: 79.3%, ProtocolQA: 79.0%, LMArena Text Leaderboard: 74.2%.

Is Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning cheaper than Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning is 15.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning costs $0.20/M input and $0.50/M output via xai. Grok-4.1 Thinking costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via xai.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning supports 2.0M tokens and Grok-4.1 Thinking supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-4 Fast Non-Reasoning and Grok-4.1 Thinking?

Key differences include context window (2.0M vs 256K), input pricing ($0.20 vs $3.00/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Related comparisons