Model Comparison
Grok-4 vs o3Which is better in 2026?
Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. o3 is 1.7x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Grok-4 vs o3 — which is better?
Grok-4 (by xAI) and o3 (by OpenAI) 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 outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2025, ARC-AGI v2, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam), while o3 is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, o3 is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Grok-4 also accepts a larger context window (256,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Grok-4 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025
Choose o3 if…
- cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Grok-4 outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2025, ARC-AGI v2, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam), while o3 is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok-4 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-4 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 1.5x more expensive than o3 ($2.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-4 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 1.9x more expensive than o3 ($8.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-4 is more expensive than o3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Grok-4 accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to o3's 200,000 tokens. o3 can generate longer responses up to 100,000 tokens, while Grok-4 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Grok-4 and o3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok-4
o3
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok-4 was released on 2025-07-09, while o3 was released on 2025-04-16.
Grok-4 is 3 months newer than o3.
Jul 9, 2025
1.0 years ago
2mo newerApr 16, 2025
1.3 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-4 has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-12-31, while o3 has a cutoff of 2024-05-31.
Grok-4 has more recent training data (up to 2024-12-31), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to o3 (2024-05-31).
Dec 2024
7 mo newerMay 2024
Provider Availability
Grok-4 is available from xAI. o3 is available from OpenAI.
Grok-4
o3
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
o3
View detailsOpenAI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-4 and o3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-4 vs o3.