Grok 4 vs Grok 3 Mini
Compare pricing, context windows, and strengths for Grok 4 by xAI and Grok 3 Mini by xAI - and see how to put either to work in Appaca.
Grok 4
A flagship multimodal model excelling in natural language, math, and deep reasoning with unmatched all-around performance.
View Grok 4Grok 3 Mini
A lightweight reasoning model that is fast, efficient, and ideal for logic-heavy tasks without deep domain requirements.
View Grok 3 MiniGrok 4 vs Grok 3 Mini at a glance
Specs and pricing side by side, from the Appaca AI models directory.
| Spec | Grok 4 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | xAI |
| Model type | Text | Text |
| Context window | 256K tokens | 131.1K tokens |
| Input price | $3 / 1M tokens | $0.3 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $15 / 1M tokens | $0.5 / 1M tokens |
| Status | Current | Current |
How Grok 4 and Grok 3 Mini differ
What the numbers mean in practice when choosing between Grok 4 and Grok 3 Mini.
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Grok 3 Mini is 90% cheaper on input tokens ($0.3 vs $3 per million), which adds up quickly in document-heavy workloads.
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Grok 3 Mini is 97% cheaper on output tokens ($0.5 vs $15 per million) - the bigger factor for tools that generate long documents.
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Grok 4's 256K tokens context window is roughly 2.0x larger than Grok 3 Mini's 131.1K tokens, so it can work across bigger codebases, contracts, or archives in one pass.
Strengths side by side
Where each model shines, according to benchmarks and provider positioning.
Grok 4
1. Flagship-level reasoning and math performance
- Designed for world-class reasoning depth, precision, and multi-step logical chains.
- Excels at STEM, mathematics, symbolic operations, proofs, and analytical workloads.
2. Powerful multimodal understanding
- Supports text, images, and other modalities.
- Handles cross-modal reasoning tasks requiring context synthesis.
3. Extreme capability across diverse tasks
- Positioned as a top-tier 'jack of all trades' model.
- Strong in natural language, coding, knowledge retrieval, and structured generation.
4. Large 256K context window
- Enables analysis of long documents, entire codebases, multi-document packs, and extensive agent sessions.
- Supports workloads that require persistent reasoning across large inputs.
5. Advanced developer tooling support
- Function calling for tool-augmented workflows.
- Structured outputs for predictable, schema-controlled generation.
- Integrates smoothly with agents and complex automation pipelines.
6. Efficient caching for cost reduction
- Cached input tokens discounted to $0.75 / 1M tokens.
- Encourages RAG, retrieval pipelines, and multi-step conversational workflows.
7. Production-ready performance
- Stable rate limits: 480 requests per minute.
- High token throughput: 2,000,000 tokens per minute.
- Available across multiple xAI regional clusters.
8. Optional Live Search augmentation
- Add-on: $25 per 1K sources.
- Enhances factual accuracy and real-time information retrieval.
Grok 3 Mini
1. Lightweight but thoughtful reasoning
- Designed to 'think before responding' with accessible raw thought traces.
- Excellent for logic puzzles, lightweight reasoning, and systematic tasks.
2. Extremely cost-efficient
- Only $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens.
- Cached token support lowers cost to $0.075 per 1M tokens.
3. Fast and responsive
- Optimized for low-latency applications and high-throughput use cases.
- Suitable for chatbots, assistants, and automation flows.
4. Supports modern developer features
- Function calling for tool-augmented workflows.
- Structured outputs for schema-controlled responses.
- Integrates cleanly with agents and pipelines.
5. Large 131K context window
- Can understand and work with long documents, transcripts, or multi-turn sessions.
6. Great for non-domain-heavy tasks
- Useful for summarization, rewriting, extraction, everyday reasoning, and app logic.
- Does not require domain expertise to operate effectively.
7. Compatible with enterprise infrastructure
- Stable rate limits: 480 requests per minute.
- Same API structure as all Grok 3 models.
8. Optional Live Search support
- $25 per 1K sources for real-time search augmentation.
Use Grok 4 or Grok 3 Mini - or both
Appaca is the AI workspace for operators. Build internal tools and AI co-workers powered by Grok 4 or Grok 3 Mini - connected to your real data and ready for your whole team. No code, no deployment.
Describe it, and it's built
Tell the Appaca agent the internal tool you need and it builds a working app powered by Grok 4 or Grok 3 Mini. No code, no API keys, no deployment.
Switch models without rebuilding
Start on Grok 4, test the same tool on Grok 3 Mini, and keep whichever performs better - the rest of your app stays exactly as it is.
Automated for the whole team
Schedule tools to run on autopilot - daily digests, weekly reports, real-time triggers - and share them with your whole team from one workspace.
Describe it, and it's built
Tell the Appaca agent what your team needs and it builds a working app powered by Grok 4 or Grok 3 Mini - connected to the tools you already use.
Related comparisons
See how Grok 4 and Grok 3 Mini stack up against other models in the directory.
FAQs
Grok 3 Mini is generally cheaper: $0.3 input / $0.5 output per million tokens, versus $3 / $15 for Grok 4. Actual cost depends on how many tokens your workload reads and writes.
Grok 4 has the larger context window at 256K tokens, compared to 131.1K tokens for Grok 3 Mini. A larger window means the model can consider more text at once - useful for long contracts, codebases, or months of records.
It depends on the job. Compare the pricing, context window, and strengths above against your workload - and remember the choice isn't permanent. In Appaca you can build a tool on Grok 4, test the same tool on Grok 3 Mini, and switch at any time without rebuilding anything.
Yes. Appaca is a no-code AI workspace: describe the internal tool your team needs and the Appaca agent builds it as a working app powered by Grok 4, Grok 3 Mini, or any other model in the directory - with a built-in database, team access, and integrations. No API keys to wire up and nothing to deploy.
Build AI tools with Grok 4 or Grok 3 Mini
Describe the tool your team needs and get a working app powered by the model you choose - with a built-in database, team access, and integrations. No code, no deployment.