Model Comparison

Grok 4.5 vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507Which is better in 2026?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is 9.6x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Grok 4.5 vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 — which is better?

Grok 4.5 (by xAI) and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is roughly 9.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Grok 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (500,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Grok 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 500,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 9.6x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 13.3x more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.5 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 7.5x more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 ($0.80/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok 4.5 is more expensive than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.5
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
Best providerxAI
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.80
Best providerFireworks
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Grok 4.5 accepts 500,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507's 262,144 tokens. Only Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.5
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 does not.

Grok 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Grok 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-16, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 was released on 2025-07-22.

Grok 4.5 is 12 months newer than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507.

Grok 4.5

Jul 16, 2026

5 days ago

11mo newer
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

Jul 22, 2025

12 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.5's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507's cutoff date.

Grok 4.5

Feb 2026

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

—

Provider Availability

Grok 4.5 is available from xAI. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is available from Fireworks, Novita.

Grok 4.5

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $6.00/1M

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (500,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (93.0% vs 77.5%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.5 and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.5
✓ Preferred
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok 4.5
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.5 vs Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507.

Which is better, Grok 4.5 or Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok 4.5 is made by xAI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok 4.5 compare to Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 in benchmarks?

Grok 4.5 scores GPQA: 93.0%, Terminal-Bench 2.1: 83.3%, Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index v1.1: 76.0%, SWE-Bench Pro: 64.7%, AA-Omniscience Index: 63.0%. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 scores ZebraLogic: 95.0%, MMLU-Redux: 93.1%, IFEval: 88.7%, MultiPL-E: 87.9%, Creative Writing v3: 87.5%.

Is Grok 4.5 cheaper than Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is 13.3x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.5 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 costs $0.15/M input and $0.80/M output via fireworks.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.5 and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok 4.5 supports 500K tokens and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok 4.5 and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 262K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.5 and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507?

Grok 4.5 is developed by xAI and Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507 is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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