Grok-4.1 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Grok-4.1 leads the LLM Stats Score 19.6 to 12.1. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is 16.6x cheaper per token.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-4.1 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 19.6 to 12.1, ranking #200 overall.
On price, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is roughly 16.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Grok-4.1 also accepts a larger context window (256,000 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-4.1
- overall performance matters — it scores 19.6 and ranks #200 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 16.6x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Grok-4.1 · 14 for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Grok-4.1 and Qwen2.5 72B Instructdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Grok-4.1 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 8.6x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-4.1 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 37.5x more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-4.1 is more expensive than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Grok-4.1 accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Qwen2.5 72B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 8,192 tokens, while Grok-4.1 is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-4.1 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2.5 72B Instruct does not.
Grok-4.1 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok-4.1
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-4.1 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct uses Qwen.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Qwen
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Grok-4.1 was released on 2025-11-17, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.
Grok-4.1 is 14 months newer than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.
Nov 17, 2025
10 months ago
1.2yr newerSep 19, 2024
2.0 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-4.1 is available from xAI. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Fireworks, Together.
Grok-4.1
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-4.1 and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-4.1 vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.