Strengths
- The cheapest general-purpose Grok with a 1-million-token window: $1.25 input and $2.50 output per million tokens.
- You can switch thinking off completely or raise it to the highest level. The default is low, which suits large numbers of quick tool calls.
- In May 2026 xAI redirected its retired Grok 4 Fast, Grok 4.1 Fast and Grok 3 models to it, so it is xAI's current low-cost model.
- Both input and output prices are below the medians tracked by Artificial Analysis ($2 input, $10 output).
Weaknesses
- It is an older generation with knowledge up to December 2025. Three newer Groks have followed, and Artificial Analysis already lists it as deprecated, although xAI has not.
- With thinking on it is slow to start: at high effort the first word takes about 24 seconds, against a 3.6-second median in Artificial Analysis data.
- There is no independent Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score for it, which makes it hard to compare with rivals.
- EU processing is not guaranteed. xAI does run it in the European eu-west-1 region, but the public API can send a request to any region.
- Its rate limits are lower than Grok 4.7's: 37 requests per second versus 150.
Best for
- large numbers of tool calls
- long documents up to 1 million tokens
- cheap chat and data extraction from text
Not ideal for
- the hardest coding and agent tasks
- real-time chat with thinking on
- companies that must have data processing guaranteed in the EU
How to use it in Europe
You use Grok 4.3 through the xAI API, which works across Europe. You can no longer pick it by name in the Grok app, where Expert and Heavy modes run on Grok 4.7. Its regions include the European eu-west-1 as well as the US. However, xAI says the global API may move requests between regions, and it publishes no European endpoint. If your data must stay in the EU, Grok is not enough.
Price compared with similar models
Benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis output speed (high reasoning) | 87.7 tokens/s | artificialanalysis.ai ↗, October 2026 |
| Artificial Analysis time to first token (high reasoning) | 24.21 s | artificialanalysis.ai ↗, October 2026 |
Benchmarks cover only a narrow slice of ability and vendors often report them at their best settings. Treat them as a rough guide.
More models from this vendor
- Grok 4.7: xAI's strongest model for agentic coding and professional work, with cheaper output than most rivals.
- Grok Build 0.1: A fast Grok coding model and the cheapest Grok on the API, built for agents that write and fix code on their own.
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