Qwen3-VL Plus vs Grok 4.1 Fast vs Grok Code Fast 1
Grok 4.1 Fast comes out ahead, 66 to 58 and 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-VL Plus
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.60
- Context262K
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4.1 Fast
66/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
- xAI
Grok Code Fast 1
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.50
- Context256K
Grok 4.1 Fast is our pick
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 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 FastGrok 4.1 Fast $0.275 · Grok Code Fast 1 $0.525 · Qwen3-VL Plus $0.55 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.1 FastGrok 4.1 Fast 2,000,000 · Qwen3-VL Plus 262,144 · Grok Code Fast 1 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3-VL Plus and Grok 4.1 FastQwen3-VL Plus: Text, Images · Grok 4.1 Fast: Text, Images · Grok Code Fast 1: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3-VL Plus | Grok 4.1 Fast | Grok Code Fast 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 60 | 73 | 60 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 50 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 72 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 58/100 | 66/100 | 48/100 |
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 | Qwen3-VL PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | Grok 4.1 FastxAI | Grok Code Fast 1xAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Output | $1.60 | $0.50 (best) | $1.50 |
| Cached input | $0.04 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.55 | $0.275 (best) | $0.525 |
| Long-context rate | Over 32K: $0.30 / $2.40 | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 30,000 tokens | 10,000 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 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen3-vl-plus | — | — |
| API providers | 6 | 8 (best) | 7 |
| Released | Sep 23, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 | Sep 2, 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.
- Qwen3-VL Plus$5.20
- Grok 4.1 Fast$3.00
- Grok Code Fast 1$5.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3-VL Plus, Grok 4.1 Fast or Grok Code Fast 1?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 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, Qwen3-VL Plus, Grok 4.1 Fast or Grok Code Fast 1?
Grok 4.1 Fast is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (median across 6 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 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. Qwen3-VL Plus has not been scored yet, Grok 4.1 Fast has not been scored yet and Grok Code Fast 1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-VL Plus, Grok 4.1 Fast and Grok Code Fast 1 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 Qwen3-VL Plus and 256,000 for Grok Code Fast 1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-VL Plus up to 32,768, Grok 4.1 Fast up to 30,000, Grok Code Fast 1 up to 10,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3-VL Plus accepts text and images; Grok 4.1 Fast accepts text and images; Grok Code Fast 1 accepts text. Qwen3-VL Plus handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen3-VL Plus, Grok 4.1 Fast and Grok Code Fast 1 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.1 Fast 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.
