GPT-5 mini vs Grok Code Fast 1
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
GPT-5 mini
OpenAI · Aug 2025
A fast, cheap distillation of GPT-5 for high-volume workloads — one fifth of the flagship's price with most of its everyday capability.
Grok Code Fast 1
xAI · Aug 2025
A speed-first coding model built for agentic IDE loops, popular as a cheap fast tier in Cursor and similar tools.
The verdict
GPT-5 mini wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Grok Code Fast 1. Grok Code Fast 1 is about 1.3x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). GPT-5 mini also takes 400K of context versus 256K for Grok Code Fast 1.
Benchmark head-to-head 1–0
Specs & pricing
| GPT-5 mini | Grok Code Fast 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.25 | $0.2 |
| Output price / 1M | $2 | $1.5 |
| Context window | 400K | 256K |
| Max output | 128K | — |
| Open weights | no | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text, image | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2024 | Aug 2025 |
| Released | Aug 2025 | Aug 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $5.50 | $4.25 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, GPT-5 mini or Grok Code Fast 1?
- GPT-5 mini wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Grok Code Fast 1. Grok Code Fast 1 is about 1.3x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). GPT-5 mini also takes 400K of context versus 256K for Grok Code Fast 1.
- Which is cheaper, GPT-5 mini or Grok Code Fast 1?
- GPT-5 mini costs $0.25/$2 per million input/output tokens, while Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.2/$1.5. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $5.50 versus $4.25.
- Which model is better for coding, GPT-5 mini or Grok Code Fast 1?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — GPT-5 mini scores ~71% versus 70.8% for Grok Code Fast 1, making GPT-5 mini the stronger pick for coding agents.
More comparisons
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