The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Grok 4.6 vs o4-mini

Comparing Grok 4.6 and o4-mini across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · OpenAI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4.6 and o4-mini trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

On price, o4-mini is roughly 1.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Grok 4.6 also accepts a larger context window (500,000 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 4.6

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 500,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose o4-mini

  • cost matters — it's about 1.6x cheaper per token

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
o4-mini
OpenAI
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$2.00 / M
$1.10 / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
$4.40 / M
Context window
500,000
200,000
Released
Aug 2026
Apr 2025
License
Proprietary
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok 4.6 and o4-minidon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

o4-mini costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 1.8x more expensive than o4-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.6 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 1.4x more expensive than o4-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok 4.6 is more expensive than o4-mini.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.6
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
Best providerxAI
OpenAI
o4-mini
Input tokens$1.10
Output tokens$4.40
Best providerOpenAI
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Grok 4.6 accepts 500,000 input tokens compared to o4-mini's 200,000 tokens. Only o4-mini specifies output context (100,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
o4-mini
Input200,000 tokens
Output100,000 tokens
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok 4.6 and o4-mini support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Grok 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

o4-mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Grok 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

o4-mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16.

Grok 4.6 is 16 months newer than o4-mini.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.3yr newer
o4-mini

Apr 16, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.6 has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while o4-mini has a cutoff of 2024-05-31.

Grok 4.6 has more recent training data (up to 2026-02-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to o4-mini (2024-05-31).

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

1.8 yr newer
o4-mini

May 2024

Provider Availability

Grok 4.6 is available from xAI. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.

Grok 4.6

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

o4-mini

openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $1.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.40/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.6 and o4-mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
o4-mini
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs o4-mini.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or o4-mini?

Grok 4.6 (xAI) and o4-mini (OpenAI) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok 4.6 compare to o4-mini in benchmarks?

Grok 4.6 scores CursorBench v3.2: 69.9%, DeepSWE 1.1: 65.9%, FrontierCode: 61.3%, AA-Index: 61.0%, GDPval-AA: 58.4%. o4-mini scores AIME 2024: 93.4%, AIME 2025: 92.7%, MathVista: 84.3%, MMMU: 81.6%, GPQA: 81.4%.

Is Grok 4.6 cheaper than o4-mini?

o4-mini is 1.8x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.6 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. o4-mini costs $1.10/M input and $4.40/M output via openai.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.6 and o4-mini?

Grok 4.6 supports 500K tokens and o4-mini supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok 4.6 and o4-mini?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 200K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $1.10/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.6 and o4-mini?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI and o4-mini is developed by OpenAI.

Related comparisons