Grok 4 Fast vs Qwen3 30B A3B
Grok 4 Fast leads the LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 17.3. Qwen3 30B A3B is 1.8x cheaper per token.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok 4 Fast leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 17.3, ranking #116 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok 4 Fast wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 30B A3B is roughly 1.8x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Grok 4 Fast 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 LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok 4 Fast
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.7 and ranks #116 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 2,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2025
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B
- cost matters — it's about 1.8x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
7 reported for Grok 4 Fast · 8 for Qwen3 30B A3B
Grok 4 Fast outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, LiveCodeBench), while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok 4 Fast significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok 4 Fast ($0.20/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok 4 Fast ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B ($0.30/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok 4 Fast is more expensive than Qwen3 30B A3B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Grok 4 Fast accepts 2,000,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 30B A3B's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 30B A3B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok 4 Fast is limited to 30,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok 4 Fast supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 30B A3B does not.
Grok 4 Fast can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok 4 Fast
Qwen3 30B A3B
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok 4 Fast is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 30B A3B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok 4 Fast was released on 2025-08-28, while Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29.
Grok 4 Fast is 4 months newer than Qwen3 30B A3B.
Aug 28, 2025
1.1 years ago
4mo newerApr 29, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Grok 4 Fast is available from xAI. Qwen3 30B A3B is available from DeepInfra, Novita, Fireworks.
Grok 4 Fast
Qwen3 30B A3B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok 4 Fast and Qwen3 30B A3B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok 4 Fast vs Qwen3 30B A3B.