Grok-4.1 Thinking vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. 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 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.
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 benchmark, 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 want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- 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.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
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.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind 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
Supported data types and modalities
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
9 months ago
3mo newerJul 25, 2025
1.1 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.