Grok 4.1 Fast vs Ministral 3 14B vs Step 3.5 Flash
Grok 4.1 Fast comes out ahead, 71 to 63 and 62 on our weighted score, though Step 3.5 Flash is 45% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4.1 Fast
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
Mistral AIMinistral 3 14B
63/100- ECI—
- Price$0.268 / $0.325
- Context262K
StepFunStep 3.5 Flash
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.30
- Context256K
Grok 4.1 Fast is our pick
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Ministral 3 14B (63) and Step 3.5 Flash (62). It leads on context window. Step 3.5 Flash wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceStep 3.5 FlashStep 3.5 Flash $0.15 · Grok 4.1 Fast $0.275 · Ministral 3 14B $0.282 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.1 FastGrok 4.1 Fast 2,000,000 · Ministral 3 14B 262,144 · Step 3.5 Flash 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4.1 Fast and Ministral 3 14BGrok 4.1 Fast: Text, Images · Ministral 3 14B: Text, Images · Step 3.5 Flash: Text
- Self-hostingMinistral 3 14B and Step 3.5 FlashPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Grok 4.1 Fast | Ministral 3 14B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 76 | 76 | 89 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 60 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 72 | 37 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 71/100 | 63/100 | 62/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Grok 4.1 FastxAI | Ministral 3 14BMistral AI | Step 3.5 FlashStepFun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 | $0.268 | $0.10 (best) |
| Output | $0.50 | $0.325 | $0.30 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.02 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.275 | $0.282 | $0.15 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Median of 2 providers | Official StepFun (Global) API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 30,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | Yeslow · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenApache 2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | step-3.5-flash |
| API providers | 2 | 2 | 8 (best) |
| Released | Nov 19, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | Jan 29, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Grok 4.1 Fast$3.00
- Ministral 3 14B$3.33
- Step 3.5 Flash$1.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok 4.1 Fast, Ministral 3 14B or Step 3.5 Flash?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Ministral 3 14B (63) and Step 3.5 Flash (62). It leads on context window. Step 3.5 Flash wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Grok 4.1 Fast, Ministral 3 14B or Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official StepFun (Global) API price). Grok 4.1 Fast costs $0.20 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); Ministral 3 14B costs $0.268 input / $0.325 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Step 3.5 Flash versus $0.275 for Grok 4.1 Fast (1.8× as much) and $0.282 for Ministral 3 14B (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok 4.1 Fast has not been scored yet, Ministral 3 14B has not been scored yet and Step 3.5 Flash has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.1 Fast, Ministral 3 14B and Step 3.5 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok 4.1 Fast has the largest context window at 2,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Ministral 3 14B and 256,000 for Step 3.5 Flash. Maximum output per response: Grok 4.1 Fast up to 30,000, Ministral 3 14B up to 262,144, Step 3.5 Flash up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok 4.1 Fast accepts text and images; Ministral 3 14B accepts text and images; Step 3.5 Flash accepts text. Grok 4.1 Fast handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Ministral 3 14B and Step 3.5 Flash publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; Grok 4.1 Fast is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Step 3.5 Flash is the newest, released Jan 29, 2026. Ministral 3 14B came out Dec 2, 2025; Grok 4.1 Fast came out Nov 19, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Step 3.5 Flash Jan 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
