Model Comparison
Grok 4 Fast vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Grok 4 Fast significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok 4 Fast is 1.8x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Grok 4 Fast vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct — which is better?
Grok 4 Fast (by xAI) and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Grok 4 Fast outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok 4 Fast significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Grok 4 Fast 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.
Choose Grok 4 Fast if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.8x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 2,000,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct if…
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Grok 4 Fast outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok 4 Fast significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok 4 Fast ($0.20/1M tokens) is 1.3x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok 4 Fast ($0.50/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is more expensive than Grok 4 Fast.*
* 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-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct's 65,536 tokens. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct can generate longer responses up to 65,536 tokens, while Grok 4 Fast is limited to 30,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Grok 4 Fast supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct 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-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok 4 Fast is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct 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-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct was released on 2025-09-10.
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 0 month newer than Grok 4 Fast.
Aug 28, 2025
9 months ago
Sep 10, 2025
9 months ago
1w newerKnowledge 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-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is available from Novita.
Grok 4 Fast
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Grok 4 Fast vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.