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Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.6-27B

Comparing Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

On price, Qwen3.6-27B is roughly 2.2x 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 Qwen3.6-27B

  • cost matters — it's about 2.2x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
Qwen3.6-27B
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$2.00 / M
$0.60 / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
$3.60 / M
Context window
500,000
262,144
Released
Aug 2026
Apr 2026
License
Proprietary
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27Bdon'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

Qwen3.6-27B costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 3.3x more expensive than Qwen3.6-27B ($0.60/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.6 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3.6-27B ($3.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok 4.6 is more expensive than Qwen3.6-27B.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.6
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
Best providerxAI
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.6-27B
Input tokens$0.60
Output tokens$3.60
Best providerNovita
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 Qwen3.6-27B's 262,144 tokens. Only Qwen3.6-27B specifies output context (65,536 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.6-27B
Input262,144 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B support multimodal inputs.

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

Grok 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.6-27B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok 4.6 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3.6-27B uses Apache 2.0.

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

Grok 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3.6-27B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while Qwen3.6-27B was released on 2026-04-21.

Grok 4.6 is 4 months newer than Qwen3.6-27B.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

3mo newer
Qwen3.6-27B

Apr 21, 2026

4 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.6 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Qwen3.6-27B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.6's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.6-27B's cutoff date.

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

Qwen3.6-27B

—

Provider Availability

Grok 4.6 is available from xAI. Qwen3.6-27B is available from Novita.

Grok 4.6

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

Qwen3.6-27B

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.60/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.60/1M
* 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 Qwen3.6-27B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.6-27B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.6-27B.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or Qwen3.6-27B?

Grok 4.6 (xAI) and Qwen3.6-27B (Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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 Qwen3.6-27B 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%. Qwen3.6-27B scores CountBench: 97.8%, VLMsAreBlind: 97.0%, V*: 94.7%, AIME 2026: 94.1%, HMMT 2025: 93.8%.

Is Grok 4.6 cheaper than Qwen3.6-27B?

Qwen3.6-27B is 3.3x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.6 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. Qwen3.6-27B costs $0.60/M input and $3.60/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B?

Grok 4.6 supports 500K tokens and Qwen3.6-27B 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 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 262K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.60/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.6-27B?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI and Qwen3.6-27B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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