Grok Code Fast 1 vs Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) vs Qwen3-VL Plus
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) comes out ahead, 69 to 58 and 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
xAIGrok Code Fast 1
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.50
- Context256K
- Our pickxAI
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)
69/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-VL Plus
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.60
- Context262K
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) is our pick
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Qwen3-VL Plus (58) and Grok Code Fast 1 (48). It leads on price and context window. Qwen3-VL Plus wins on inputs & features. 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 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) $0.275 · Grok Code Fast 1 $0.525 · Qwen3-VL Plus $0.55 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) 2,000,000 · Qwen3-VL Plus 262,144 · Grok Code Fast 1 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) and Qwen3-VL PlusGrok Code Fast 1: Text · Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning): Text, Images · Qwen3-VL Plus: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Grok Code Fast 1 | Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) | Qwen3-VL Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 60 | 73 | 60 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 72 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 48/100 | 69/100 | 58/100 |
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 | Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)xAI | Qwen3-VL PlusAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Output | $1.50 | $0.50 (best) | $1.60 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.04 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.525 | $0.275 (best) | $0.55 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $0.30 / $2.40 |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 7 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 10,000 tokens | 30,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — | qwen3-vl-plus |
| API providers | 7 | 9 (best) | 6 |
| Released | Sep 2, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Apr 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 Code Fast 1$5.00
- Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning)$3.00
- Qwen3-VL Plus$5.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok Code Fast 1, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) or Qwen3-VL Plus?
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Qwen3-VL Plus (58) and Grok Code Fast 1 (48). It leads on price and context window. Qwen3-VL Plus wins on inputs & features. 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, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) or Qwen3-VL Plus?
Grok 4.1 Fast (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 Plus costs $0.20 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.275 per million tokens for Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) versus $0.525 for Grok Code Fast 1 (1.9× as much) and $0.55 for Qwen3-VL Plus (2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok Code Fast 1 has not been scored yet, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) has not been scored yet and Qwen3-VL Plus has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok Code Fast 1, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) and Qwen3-VL Plus 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 (Reasoning) has the largest context window at 2,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-VL Plus and 256,000 for Grok Code Fast 1. Maximum output per response: Grok Code Fast 1 up to 10,000, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) up to 30,000, Qwen3-VL Plus up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok Code Fast 1 accepts text; Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) accepts text and images; Qwen3-VL Plus accepts text and images. Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Grok Code Fast 1, Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) and Qwen3-VL Plus are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.1 Fast (Reasoning) is the newest, released Nov 19, 2025. Qwen3-VL Plus came out Sep 23, 2025; Grok Code Fast 1 came out Sep 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-VL Plus Apr 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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