Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning vs Grok Code Fast 1 vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning comes out ahead, 72 to 49 and 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4 Fast Non Reasoning
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
- xAI
Grok Code Fast 1
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.50
- Context256K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
49/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.55
- Context131K
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning is our pick
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (49) and Grok Code Fast 1 (48). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningGrok 4 Fast Non Reasoning $0.275 · Grok Code Fast 1 $0.525 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct $0.613 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningGrok 4 Fast Non Reasoning 2,000,000 · Grok Code Fast 1 256,000 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningGrok 4 Fast Non Reasoning: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Grok Code Fast 1: Text · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct: Text, Images
- Self-hostingQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning | Grok Code Fast 1 | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 73 | 60 | 57 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 35 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 72 | 36 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 48/100 | 49/100 |
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 Fast Non ReasoningxAI | Grok Code Fast 1xAI | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $0.20 (best) | $0.30 |
| Output | $0.50 (best) | $1.50 | $1.55 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.275 (best) | $0.525 | $0.613 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 7 providers | Median of 5 providers | Median of 16 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 10,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 8 | 7 | 16 (best) |
| Released | Dec 18, 2025 | Sep 2, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Mar 31, 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 Fast Non Reasoning$3.00
- Grok Code Fast 1$5.00
- Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct$6.10
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (49) and Grok Code Fast 1 (48). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 Fast Non Reasoning, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.20 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs $0.30 input / $1.55 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.275 per million tokens for Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning versus $0.525 for Grok Code Fast 1 (1.9× as much) and $0.613 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (2.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning has not been scored yet, Grok Code Fast 1 has not been scored yet and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning, Grok Code Fast 1 and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 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 Fast Non Reasoning has the largest context window at 2,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Grok Code Fast 1 and 131,072 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct. Maximum output per response: Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning up to 2,000,000, Grok Code Fast 1 up to 10,000, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning accepts text, images, audio and video; Grok Code Fast 1 accepts text; Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct accepts text and images. Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning and Grok Code Fast 1 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning is the newest, released Dec 18, 2025. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct came out Sep 23, 2025; Grok Code Fast 1 came out Sep 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct Mar 31, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
