Grok-4.1 Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct are closely matched at 16.0 and 20.2 on the LLM Stats Score.
xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 16.0 and 20.2.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-4.1 Thinking wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Grok-4.1 Thinking
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
- 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 · 45 for Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Grok-4.1 Thinking outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Creative Writing v3), while Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
Grok-4.1 Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Grok-4.1 Thinking specifies input context (256,000 tokens). Only Grok-4.1 Thinking specifies output context (8,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Grok-4.1 Thinking
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Grok-4.1 Thinking is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 32B 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-4.1 Thinking was released on 2025-11-17, while Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Grok-4.1 Thinking is 2 months newer than Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct.
Nov 17, 2025
10 months ago
1mo newerSep 22, 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.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Grok-4.1 Thinking and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Grok-4.1 Thinking vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct.