Grok Code Fast 1 vs Codestral 25.08
Too close to call on our weighted score (Grok Code Fast 1 48, Codestral 25.08 47). The right pick depends on what you value most.
xAIGrok Code Fast 1
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.50
- Context256K
Mistral AICodestral 25.08
47/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Grok Code Fast 1 48/100, Codestral 25.08 47/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Codestral 25.08 on price and Grok Code Fast 1 for long inputs. 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 priceCodestral 25.08Codestral 25.08 $0.45 · Grok Code Fast 1 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok Code Fast 1Grok Code Fast 1 256,000 · Codestral 25.08 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGrok Code Fast 1: Text · Codestral 25.08: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Grok Code Fast 1 | Codestral 25.08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 60 | 64 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 48/100 | 47/100 |
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 Code Fast 1xAI | Codestral 25.08Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.50 | $0.90 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.525 | $0.45 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 10,000 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | codestral-2508 |
| API providers | 7 | 11 (best) |
| Released | Sep 2, 2025 | Jul 30, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Grok Code Fast 1$5.00
- Codestral 25.08$4.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok Code Fast 1 or Codestral 25.08?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Grok Code Fast 1 48/100, Codestral 25.08 47/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Codestral 25.08 on price and Grok Code Fast 1 for long inputs. 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 Code Fast 1 or Codestral 25.08?
Codestral 25.08 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.20 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.45 per million tokens for Codestral 25.08 versus $0.525 for Grok Code Fast 1 (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Grok Code Fast 1 has not been scored yet and Codestral 25.08 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok Code Fast 1 and Codestral 25.08 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 Code Fast 1 has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Codestral 25.08. Maximum output per response: Grok Code Fast 1 up to 10,000, Codestral 25.08 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok Code Fast 1 accepts text; Codestral 25.08 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
No. Grok Code Fast 1 and Codestral 25.08 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok Code Fast 1 is the newest, released Sep 2, 2025. Codestral 25.08 came out Jul 30, 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.
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