Grok API Pricing
Elon Musk's AI lab, founded March 2023 as X.AI Corp. Ships the Grok family — text-only frontier reasoning models trained on the Memphis Colossus supercluster (150 MW peak, plans for 1M+ GPUs). Acquired by SpaceX on Feb 2, 2026 at a $250B xAI valuation ($1.25T combined entity). Brand still operates as xAI; API still at docs.x.ai; Grok still integrated natively into X (Twitter).
Grok 4.20 (0309) Reasoning
Dated 03-09 snapshot of Grok 4.20 in reasoning mode.
Grok 4.20 (0309) Non-Reasoning
Dated 03-09 snapshot of Grok 4.20 in non-reasoning (latency-optimised) mode.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent (0309)
Multi-agent orchestration variant of Grok 4.20 — 2M context window (only Grok variant with 2M).
Grok 4.3 LAUNCHED MAY 2026
Current xAI Grok text model.
Grok 4.1 Fast LAUNCHED NOV 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $0.20/M input, $0.05/M cached input, $0.50/M output.
Grok 4 Fast LAUNCHED SEP 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $0.20/M input, $0.05/M cached input, $0.50/M output.
Grok 4 LAUNCHED JUL 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $3/M input, $0.75/M cached input, $15/M output.
Grok 3 LAUNCHED FEB 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $3/M input, $0.75/M cached input, $15/M output.
Grok 3 Mini LAUNCHED FEB 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output.
Grok 2 (1212) LAUNCHED DEC 2024
Official xAI 1212 launch post announced grok-2-1212 and grok-2-vision-1212 at $2/M input and $10/M output after efficiency improvements.
Grok 2 Vision (1212) LAUNCHED DEC 2024
API ID grok-2-vision-1212.
Grok Code Fast 1 LAUNCHED AUG 2025
Archive price retained from the verified snapshot: $0.20/M input, $0.02/M cached input, $1.50/M output.
Grok Beta LAUNCHED NOV 2024
API ID grok-beta.
Grok Vision Beta LAUNCHED NOV 2024
API ID grok-vision-beta.
| Model | Input /M | Output /M | Cached | Context | Max output | Vision | Tools | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grok 4.20 (0309) Reasoning | $1.25 | $2.50 | $0.2−84% | 1M | — | ✗ | ✓ | Frontier |
| Grok 4.20 (0309) Non-Reasoning | $1.25 | $2.50 | $0.2−84% | 1M | — | ✗ | ✓ | Frontier |
| Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent (0309) | $1.25 | $2.50 | $0.2−84% | 2M | — | ✗ | ✓ | Frontier |
| Grok 4.3 FLAGSHIP | $1.25 | $2.50 | $0.2−84% | 1M | — | ✗ | ✓ | Frontier |
| Grok 4.1 Fast RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired May 15, 2026 | → grok-4-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 4 Fast RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired May 15, 2026 | → grok-4-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 4 RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired May 15, 2026 | → grok-4-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 3 RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired May 15, 2026 | → grok-4-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 3 Mini RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired Sep 30, 2025 | → grok-4-fast | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 2 (1212) RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired Aug 14, 2025 | → grok-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok 2 Vision (1212) RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired Aug 14, 2025 | → grok-3 | ✓ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok Code Fast 1 RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired May 15, 2026 | → grok-4-3 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok Beta RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired Feb 28, 2025 | → grok-2-1212 | ✗ | ✗ | Retired |
| Grok Vision Beta RETIRED | — | — | — | Retired Feb 28, 2025 | → grok-2-vision-1212 | ✓ | ✗ | Retired |
The last 12 months at xAI.
Major releases, retirements, and corporate moves. Sourced from xAI press releases, docs.x.ai migration guides, and recent merger filings.
console.x.ai + docs.x.ai — direct API, OpenAI-compatible endpoint, free trial credit on signup. The only path to grok-4.3 and the 4.20 snapshots; no major cloud reseller carries Grok.
CONSUMER · WEB + Xgrok.com for standalone chat, X (Twitter) for in-feed integration. SuperGrok at $30/mo, SuperGrok Heavy at $300/mo (priority access to the largest variant).
INFRA · COMPUTExAI's own supercluster in Memphis, TN. Operational since Dec 2024 — 150 MW peak, plans for 1M+ GPUs. Pure inference + training, not a customer-facing endpoint, but the reason xAI can ship at $1.25/M.
xAI was founded by Elon Musk on March 9, 2023 as X.AI Corp, with 11 founding researchers (including ex-DeepMind's Igor Babuschkin). The pitch: build a maximally truth-seeking AI inside Musk's ecosystem — X (Twitter) for data and distribution, Tesla / SpaceX for compute and capital. CEO: Elon Musk.
The lab moved fast. Grok 1 shipped November 2023 (weights later open-sourced). Grok 2 in August 2024 added image generation. Grok 3 in February 2025 introduced the reflection / reasoning mode that anchors the current line. Grok 4 in July 2025 was the first frontier-tier Grok ($3/$15) and shipped alongside SuperGrok Heavy, a $300/mo consumer tier that exposed early access to the largest variants. Grok 4.3 on May 12, 2026 cut input prices ~40% to $1.25/$2.50 and the next-generation Grok 4.20 family arrived in 03-09 snapshot form.
The defining infrastructure asset is the Memphis Colossus supercluster, brought online in December 2024 after a remarkable 122-day build. Peak draw 150 MW; expansion plans target 1M+ GPUs. This is the reason xAI can offer flagship pricing at $1.25/M input — the per-token economics are subsidised by owning compute rather than renting it.
The corporate structure changed dramatically in 2026. On Feb 2, 2026, SpaceX acquired xAI at a $250B xAI valuation and $1.25T combined-entity valuation — the largest tech merger by valuation on record. Stated rationale: orbital data centres + more capital runway for AI buildout against OpenAI and Anthropic. xAI continues to operate under its own brand and API surface; only the parent changed.
Compared to Anthropic and OpenAI: cheaper per-token at frontier ($1.25/$2.50 vs $5/$30 GPT-5.5), smaller surface (text-only as of May 2026 — no native vision, image gen, or audio), tied to X / Twitter brand for better and worse. SWE-bench Verified for Grok 4.3 trails Claude Opus 4.7 by roughly 14pp (~74% vs 87.6%).
OpenAI
Bigger surface area (image / audio / video / embeddings under one roof), bigger consumer brand. 4× more expensive at flagship input ($5 vs $1.25). xAI wins on per-token cost; OpenAI wins on multimodality and ecosystem.
CODING LEADERAnthropic
Leads SWE-bench Verified at 87.6% vs Grok 4.3's ~74%. Zero-retention defaults and Responsible Scaling Policy. 4× more expensive at flagship ($5 vs $1.25) but stronger on coding agents.
CLOUD GIANT2M context on Gemini 2.5 Pro matches xAI's Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent. Native multimodal (text + image + audio + video). Pricier per token but vastly broader ecosystem via Workspace + Vertex.
Meta
Llama 4 405B self-hostable — full weights, Apache-style licensing. xAI open-sourced Grok 1 in 2024 but no recent generations; for self-hosted frontier weights, Meta is the realistic pick.
Frequently asked.
Practical questions about xAI, the Grok lineup, the SpaceX merger, and how text-only frontier pricing actually shakes out.
Q · 01 Which Grok model should I start with? +
Q · 02 Why is Grok text-only? When will vision / audio land? +
Q · 03 Did SpaceX really acquire xAI? +
Feb 2, 2026 at a $250B xAI valuation ($1.25T combined entity). The deal was framed as funding for orbital data centres and giving xAI more capital runway against OpenAI / Anthropic infrastructure spend. The xAI brand, console at console.x.ai, and Grok product line all continue to operate as before; only the parent ownership changed.Q · 04 Does xAI offer EU data residency? +
Q · 05 What happened in the May 15, 2026 retirement wave? +
grok-4.3 and bill at Grok 4.3 pricing ($1.25/$2.50). This consolidated the lineup down to the current 4 active models. Migration guide: docs.x.ai/developers/migration/may-15-retirement.