Cost Comparison (1000 input + 500 output tokens, 100 requests/day)
Grok 4
Grok 4.20
Cost Differences
Grok 4.20 costs less than Grok 4
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Grok 4 | Grok 4.20 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | xAI |
| Input Price | $3.00/1M tokens | $2.00/1M tokens |
| Output Price | $15.00/1M tokens | $6.00/1M tokens |
| Context Window | 256,000 tokens | 2,000,000 tokens |
| Max Output | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Category | reasoning | reasoning |
| Capabilities | textvisionreasoningcode | textvisionreasoningcode |
| Release Date | 7/9/2025 | 2/17/2026 |
Grok 4 vs Grok 4.20: Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between Grok 4 and Grok 4.20 depends on your priorities: cost efficiency, context length, or raw capability. Grok 4.20 is the more affordable option at $2.00/1M input tokens — 33% cheaper than Grok 4. Meanwhile, Grok 4.20 offers a significantly larger context window at 2,000,000 tokens vs 256,000 for Grok 4.
Both models are in the reasoning category, making this a direct head-to-head comparison. At scale — say 10,000 requests per day — the cost difference adds up: Grok 4.20 would save you roughly $1,650.00/month compared to Grok 4. For startups and indie developers, that difference can be significant.
Output costs matter too. Grok 4 charges $15.00/1M output tokens vs $6.00 for Grok 4.20. For generation-heavy workloads (content creation, code generation, summarization), output pricing often dominates your bill. Grok 4.20 has the edge here at $6.00/1M output tokens.
Multimodal capabilities: Both models support vision (image understanding), so you can send images alongside text prompts with either option.
Best Use Cases
Choose Grok 4 when:
- • You're already using xAI's API ecosystem
Choose Grok 4.20 when:
- • Budget is a primary concern
- • You need a larger context window (2,000,000 tokens)
- • You're already using xAI's API ecosystem
Try Different Scenarios
Use the calculator below to see how costs change with different usage patterns
Grok 4 (xAI)
Grok 4.20 (xAI)
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