Grok-4.1 Thinking vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 are closely matched at 16.0 and 28.0 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is 6.2x cheaper per token.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 16.0 and 28.0.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is roughly 6.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 also accepts a larger context window (262,144 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 Thinking
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 6.2x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Grok-4.1 Thinking · 25 for Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Grok-4.1 Thinking outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is better at 1 benchmark (Creative Writing v3).
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 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-4.1 Thinking ($3.00/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Grok-4.1 Thinking ($15.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 ($3.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-4.1 Thinking is more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Grok-4.1 Thinking's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Grok-4.1 Thinking is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-4.1 Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 does not.
Grok-4.1 Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-4.1 Thinking is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 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-4.1 Thinking was released on 2025-11-17, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 was released on 2025-07-25.
Grok-4.1 Thinking is 4 months newer than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507.
Nov 17, 2025
11 months ago
3mo newerJul 25, 2025
1.2 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 Thinking is available from xAI. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 is available from Fireworks, Novita.
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-4.1 Thinking vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507.