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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning comes out ahead, 72 to 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    xAI

    Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning

    Released Dec 18, 2025

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $0.50
    • Context2M
    Full specs Remove Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $1.55
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

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). 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 · 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 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningGrok 4 Fast Non Reasoning: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningQwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Price50%7357
Inputs & features30%7050
Context window20%7225
Overall100%72/10049/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationGrok 4 Fast Non ReasoningxAIQwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20 (best)$0.30
Output$0.50 (best)$1.55
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.275 (best)$0.613
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 7 providersMedian of 16 providers
Limits
Context window2,000,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output2,000,000 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model ID——
API providers816 (best)
ReleasedDec 18, 2025Sep 23, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Mar 31, 2025
03 — Cost

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
  • Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct$6.10
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning 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). 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 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). 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 $0.613 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (2.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning 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 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. Both 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 131,072 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct. Maximum output per response: Grok 4 Fast Non Reasoning up to 2,000,000, 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; 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 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. 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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