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Grok API Pricing 2026: Grok 3 at $3/M, Mini at $0.30/M — Complete Guide

February 2026 updated — xAI Grok API pricing: Grok 3 at $3/$15, Grok 3 Mini at $0.30/$0.50 per 1M tokens. Free $25 credit, 128K context. Compare with GPT-5, Claude, DeepSeek.

DevTk.AI 2026-02-24 Updated 2026-02-24

xAI entered the AI API market in 2025 with Grok, and by 2026 the Grok 3 family has established itself as a serious contender. Built by Elon Musk’s AI company, Grok differentiates itself with strong reasoning capabilities, real-time data access through X/Twitter integration, and an aggressively priced Mini model that undercuts nearly every competitor on output tokens.

For developers evaluating API providers, Grok occupies an interesting position: the full Grok 3 model matches Claude Sonnet 4.5 on price ($3/$15), while Grok 3 Mini at $0.30/$0.50 is one of the cheapest capable models available anywhere. Add a $25 free signup credit and a unique $150/month data-sharing program, and xAI is clearly making a play for developer adoption.

This guide covers every Grok model’s pricing, compares them head-to-head with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek, and shows you how to minimize costs while taking advantage of Grok’s unique features.

Grok 2026 Model Lineup & Pricing

xAI currently offers two main API models in the Grok 3 family:

ModelInput PriceOutput PriceContextMax OutputCapabilities
Grok 3$3.00/M$15.00/M128K8KText, vision, function calling
Grok 3 Mini$0.30/M$0.50/M128K8KText, function calling

All prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Source: xAI API pricing. Last updated: February 2026.

What Stands Out

Two things jump out from this pricing table:

  1. Grok 3 is priced identically to Claude Sonnet 4.5 at $3.00 input / $15.00 output. This is a deliberate positioning choice by xAI — they are pricing against Anthropic’s most popular model, not against GPT-5 ($1.25/$10.00). The bet is that Grok 3’s real-time data access and strong reasoning justify the premium over OpenAI and Google.

  2. Grok 3 Mini’s output pricing is extraordinarily cheap at $0.50/M output tokens. For context, GPT-5 Mini charges $2.00/M for output — 4x more. DeepSeek V3.2 charges $1.10/M for output — 2.2x more. If your workload is output-heavy (code generation, long-form content, detailed explanations), Grok 3 Mini can deliver significant savings.

Free Credits & Unique Programs

$25 Free Signup Credit

xAI gives every new developer account $25 in free API credits upon signup. There is no credit card required to start, and the credits do not expire within the first 30 days. At Grok 3 Mini’s pricing, $25 gets you:

  • ~83 million input tokens, or
  • ~50 million output tokens, or
  • A realistic mix of ~25 million input + 20 million output tokens

That is enough to build and test an entire prototype application without spending anything.

$150/Month Data Sharing Program

xAI has introduced a unique program that no other AI provider offers: developers who opt into sharing their API interaction data with xAI receive $150/month in API credits. The data is used to improve future Grok models.

This is not for everyone — if you are handling sensitive user data, proprietary business logic, or anything covered by privacy regulations, this is a non-starter. But for developers building open-source tools, personal projects, or non-sensitive applications, $150/month in free credits is substantial. At Grok 3 Mini’s pricing, that buys you 500 million input tokens or 300 million output tokens per month.

When this makes sense:

  • Open-source projects and community tools
  • Internal developer tooling with non-sensitive data
  • Prototyping and experimentation
  • Educational projects

When to avoid it:

  • Any application handling user PII
  • Enterprise or production apps with compliance requirements
  • Proprietary business logic you do not want shared

Grok vs GPT-5 vs Claude vs Gemini vs DeepSeek: Price Comparison

Here is how the full Grok 3 lineup compares against every major competitor:

ModelProviderInputOutputContextNotes
Grok 3xAI$3.00$15.00128KVision + function calling
Grok 3 MinixAI$0.30$0.50128KCheapest output among capable models
GPT-5OpenAI$1.25$10.00400KLargest non-Gemini context
GPT-5 MiniOpenAI$0.25$2.00400KCheaper input, 4x pricier output than Grok Mini
Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic$3.00$15.00200KSame price as Grok 3, larger context
Claude Opus 4.5Anthropic$5.00$25.00200KPremium tier
Gemini 2.5 ProGoogle$1.25$10.001MLargest context window
DeepSeek V3.2DeepSeek$0.27$1.10128KCheapest input overall

Key Takeaways

  • Grok 3 matches Claude Sonnet 4.5 exactly on price ($3/$15), but Claude offers 200K context vs Grok’s 128K and supports 64K max output vs Grok’s 8K. On price alone, these two are interchangeable — your choice depends on model quality for your specific use case and whether you need real-time data access (Grok) or prompt caching (Claude).

  • Grok 3 is 2.4x more expensive than GPT-5 on input and 1.5x more on output. Unless you specifically need Grok’s X/Twitter integration or prefer its reasoning style, GPT-5 offers better value at the flagship tier.

  • Grok 3 Mini’s output cost is the lowest among all capable models at $0.50/M. Compare: GPT-5 Mini charges $2.00 (4x more), DeepSeek V3.2 charges $1.10 (2.2x more), and Gemini 2.5 Flash charges $0.60 (1.2x more). For output-heavy workloads, Grok 3 Mini is the clear budget winner.

  • Grok 3 Mini’s input cost ($0.30) is competitive but not the cheapest. DeepSeek V3.2 at $0.27 and GPT-5 Mini at $0.25 are slightly cheaper. Gemini 2.5 Flash at $0.15 is half the price. The Mini model’s real value proposition is on the output side.

  • Context window is Grok’s weakness — 128K tokens is the smallest among major providers. GPT-5 offers 400K, Claude offers 200K, and Gemini offers 1M. If your application needs large context, Grok may not be your best choice.

Monthly Cost Estimates

Scenario 1: Solo Developer

100K input + 50K output tokens per day

ModelMonthly Cost
Grok 3 Mini$1.65
Grok 3$31.50
DeepSeek V3.2$2.46
Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.90
GPT-5$18.75
Claude Sonnet 4.5$31.50

Calculation: (100K x 30 / 1M) x input price + (50K x 30 / 1M) x output price

At solo-developer scale, Grok 3 Mini is remarkably cheap at $1.65/month — only Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper. And if you are using the data sharing program, your $150/month credit covers this usage 90 times over.

Scenario 2: Startup

1M input + 500K output tokens per day

ModelMonthly Cost
Grok 3 Mini$16.50
Grok 3$315
DeepSeek V3.2$24.60
Gemini 2.5 Flash$9.00
GPT-5$187.50
Claude Sonnet 4.5$315

Calculation: (1M x 30 / 1M) x input price + (500K x 30 / 1M) x output price

At startup scale, Grok 3 Mini at $16.50/month is cheaper than DeepSeek V3.2 ($24.60) thanks to its drastically lower output pricing. The full Grok 3 model at $315 matches Claude Sonnet exactly, which makes sense given their identical per-token pricing.

Scenario 3: Enterprise / Production

10M input + 5M output tokens per day

ModelMonthly Cost
Grok 3 Mini$165
Grok 3$3,150
DeepSeek V3.2$246
Gemini 2.5 Flash$90
GPT-5$1,875
Claude Sonnet 4.5$3,150

Calculation: (10M x 30 / 1M) x input price + (5M x 30 / 1M) x output price

At production scale, Grok 3 Mini at $165/month is 19x cheaper than the full Grok 3 model. If your application can work with Mini’s capabilities, the savings are dramatic. Note that DeepSeek V3.2 costs $246/month at this scale — $81 more than Grok 3 Mini — entirely because of the output price difference ($1.10 vs $0.50).

Want exact numbers for your specific usage? Try our AI Model Pricing Calculator.

When to Choose Grok

1. Real-Time Data and X/Twitter Integration

Grok’s most distinctive feature is its integration with X (formerly Twitter). If your application needs:

  • Real-time information about current events
  • Social media sentiment analysis
  • Trending topic monitoring
  • News summarization with up-to-the-minute data

No other major API model offers this built-in. GPT-5 and Gemini have web search capabilities, but Grok’s native X integration provides faster and more direct access to social media data.

2. Output-Heavy Workloads on a Budget

If your application generates a lot of output tokens — long-form content, detailed code explanations, comprehensive reports — Grok 3 Mini’s $0.50/M output pricing is the best deal available:

Generating 1M output tokens costs:Price
Grok 3 Mini$0.50
Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.60
DeepSeek V3.2$1.10
GPT-5 Mini$2.00
Claude Haiku 4.5$5.00

For a code generation tool that produces 10M output tokens per day, Grok 3 Mini saves you $18/day ($540/month) compared to DeepSeek V3.2, and $45/day ($1,350/month) compared to GPT-5 Mini.

3. Strong Reasoning at a Moderate Budget

Grok 3 performs well on reasoning benchmarks, particularly in mathematics, science, and logical analysis. If you need reasoning capabilities stronger than what Mini models offer but cannot justify Claude Opus 4.5’s $5/$25 pricing, Grok 3 at $3/$15 is a solid middle ground.

4. Prototyping with Free Credits

With $25 in free signup credits, you can build and test a complete application before spending any money. If you also qualify for the data sharing program, you get an additional $150/month — enough to run a small production application indefinitely at zero cost.

Getting Started with Grok API

Step 1: Get Your API Key

  1. Visit console.x.ai
  2. Create an account (or sign in with your X account)
  3. Generate an API key in the dashboard
  4. Your $25 free credit is applied automatically

Step 2: Make Your First Request

Grok uses an OpenAI-compatible API format, so if you already use the OpenAI SDK, switching is straightforward.

Python:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your-xai-api-key",
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1"
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="grok-3",
    messages=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful coding assistant."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python function to parse RSS feeds"}
    ],
    temperature=0.7,
    max_tokens=2000
)

print(response.choices[0].message.content)

JavaScript / TypeScript:

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: 'your-xai-api-key',
  baseURL: 'https://api.x.ai/v1',
});

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: 'grok-3',
  messages: [
    { role: 'system', content: 'You are a helpful coding assistant.' },
    { role: 'user', content: 'Build a REST API rate limiter in TypeScript' },
  ],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

Using Grok 3 Mini for cost-effective requests:

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="grok-3-mini",
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Summarize the key points of this article: ..."}
    ],
    max_tokens=1000
)

Using vision capabilities (Grok 3 only):

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="grok-3",
    messages=[
        {
            "role": "user",
            "content": [
                {"type": "text", "text": "What's in this image?"},
                {
                    "type": "image_url",
                    "image_url": {"url": "https://example.com/image.png"}
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
)

Step 3: Migrate from OpenAI

If you are currently using OpenAI’s API, migration takes two lines:

  1. Change base_url to https://api.x.ai/v1
  2. Replace api_key with your xAI key
  3. Set model to grok-3 or grok-3-mini
  4. Everything else stays the same — message format, streaming, function calling all work identically

Cost Optimization Tips

1. Route Between Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini

The single most impactful optimization: do not use Grok 3 for tasks that Mini can handle. Grok 3 costs 10x more on input and 30x more on output than Mini. Build a routing layer:

  • Simple Q&A, summarization, classification → Grok 3 Mini ($0.30/$0.50)
  • Complex reasoning, vision tasks, nuanced analysis → Grok 3 ($3.00/$15.00)

A 70/30 split (Mini/Full) instead of all-Grok-3 can reduce your overall costs by 75% or more.

2. Leverage Free Credits Aggressively

Take full advantage of the $25 signup credit for development and testing. If your use case allows it, evaluate the data sharing program for $150/month in ongoing credits. For many non-sensitive applications, this effectively makes Grok free.

3. Optimize for Output Tokens

Since Grok 3’s output pricing ($15.00/M) is 5x its input pricing ($3.00/M), managing output length has a disproportionate impact on costs. Strategies:

  • Set explicit max_tokens limits on every request
  • Use concise system prompts that instruct the model to be direct
  • Request structured JSON output instead of verbose prose when appropriate
  • Use Grok 3 Mini for any task where output length is significant but quality requirements are moderate

4. Use Function Calling for Structured Tasks

Both Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini support function calling. For tasks like data extraction, classification, or structured output, function calling typically produces shorter and more focused responses than free-form text generation — reducing output token counts and costs.

5. Count Tokens Before Sending

Use our AI Token Counter to estimate token counts before making API calls. This helps you predict costs, choose the right model for each request, and avoid surprise bills from oversized inputs.

Grok Strengths and Limitations

Strengths

  • Real-time data via X/Twitter — unique among major API providers, invaluable for current-events applications
  • Extraordinarily cheap Mini model — $0.30/$0.50 is the lowest output pricing among capable models
  • OpenAI-compatible API — zero migration friction from OpenAI, easy to integrate
  • $25 free credits — generous startup allowance for prototyping
  • Data sharing program — $150/month in credits for eligible applications
  • Strong reasoning — competitive with Claude Sonnet 4.5 and GPT-5 on reasoning benchmarks
  • Vision support — Grok 3 handles image inputs natively
  • Function calling — both models support tool use for structured workflows

Limitations

  • 128K context window — the smallest among major providers (GPT-5: 400K, Claude: 200K, Gemini: 1M)
  • 8K max output — significantly smaller than competitors (Claude: 64K, Gemini: 64K, GPT-5: 16K)
  • No prompt caching — unlike Anthropic and Google, xAI does not currently offer prompt caching discounts
  • No batch API — no discounted pricing for non-real-time workloads (OpenAI and Anthropic offer 50% batch discounts)
  • Smaller ecosystem — fewer third-party integrations, libraries, and community resources compared to OpenAI or Google
  • Younger platform — less established enterprise support, SLAs, and compliance certifications
  • Mini lacks vision — only the full Grok 3 model supports image input

When to Choose Other Providers Instead

Your NeedBetter ChoiceWhy
Long context (>128K tokens)Gemini 2.5 Pro (1M) or GPT-5 (400K)Grok caps at 128K
Long output (>8K tokens)Claude 4.5 (64K) or Gemini (64K)Grok caps at 8K max output
Cheapest possible input tokensGemini 2.5 Flash ($0.15) or GPT-5 Mini ($0.25)Grok Mini is $0.30
Prompt caching savingsClaude 4.5 (90% cache savings)Grok has no caching
Batch processing discountsOpenAI or Anthropic (50% off)Grok has no batch API
Maximum reasoning qualityClaude Opus 4.5Still the benchmark for hardest tasks
Enterprise complianceOpenAI or AnthropicMore established governance and certifications

Bottom Line

Grok’s 2026 positioning is built around two pillars: real-time data access and aggressively cheap Mini pricing. The full Grok 3 model at $3/$15 is priced at a premium alongside Claude Sonnet 4.5 — justifiable if you need its X/Twitter integration or reasoning capabilities, but hard to recommend over GPT-5 ($1.25/$10) or Gemini 2.5 Pro ($1.25/$10) on price alone.

The real story is Grok 3 Mini at $0.30/$0.50. With the lowest output token pricing among all capable models, it is the optimal choice for output-heavy workloads on a budget. Pair it with the $25 free signup credit and the optional data sharing program, and xAI offers one of the most accessible entry points into AI development.

For most developers, the winning strategy is: use Grok 3 Mini as your default for cost-sensitive tasks, switch to the full Grok 3 only when you need vision or maximum reasoning quality, and take advantage of the free credits and data sharing program to minimize costs further. If real-time data from X/Twitter is central to your application, Grok is the only major API that delivers this natively.

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