GOOGLE VS XAI
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Grok Code Fast 1
Grok Code Fast 1 is about 5.7x cheaper than Gemini 3.6 Flash on a blended 3:1 input:output rate — the same 10K-in/2K-out request costs $0.005 vs $0.03. Gemini 3.6 Flash has the larger context window (1,048,576 vs 256,000 tokens).
Pricing verified
API pricing per 1M tokens
| Model | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens | Blended (3:1 mix) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $1.50 | $7.50 | $3.00 |
| Grok Code Fast 1 | $0.20 | $1.50 | $0.525 |
Rates from official Google pricing and official xAI pricing, checked 2026-08-11.
What a real workload costs
Example: one request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens, then that request at 100,000 runs per month.
| Model | Per request (10K in / 2K out) | Per month (100K requests) | Monthly delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $0.03 | $3,000 | +$2,500 |
| Grok Code Fast 1 | $0.005 | $500 | — |
Model your own prompt sizes and volumes in the token cost analyzer, or check caching savings with the prompt caching calculator.
Specs side by side
| Spec | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Grok Code Fast 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 256,000 tokens |
| Model class | General text | General text |
| Tokenizer | Proprietary (counts estimated) | Proprietary (counts estimated) |
Count tokens for each model on its own page: Gemini 3.6 Flash token counter and Grok Code Fast 1 token counter. All Google models are on the Gemini Token Counter. All xAI models are on the Grok Token Counter.
FAQ
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Grok Code Fast 1 FAQ
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?
Grok Code Fast 1 is cheaper. At rates checked 2026-08-11, Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50 input / $7.50 output per 1M tokens, while Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.20 input / $1.50 output — about a 5.7x difference on a typical 3:1 input-heavy workload.
How much does a real request cost on Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Grok Code Fast 1?
A request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens costs about $0.03 on Gemini 3.6 Flash and $0.005 on Grok Code Fast 1. At 100,000 such requests per month that is $3,000 vs $500 — a difference of $2,500 per month.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Grok Code Fast 1?
Gemini 3.6 Flash. It supports 1,048,576 tokens of context versus 256,000 tokens — roughly 786,000 English words in one request.
Do Gemini 3.6 Flash and Grok Code Fast 1 count tokens the same way?
Not exactly. Gemini 3.6 Flash uses a proprietary tokenizer (counts are estimates) and Grok Code Fast 1 uses a proprietary tokenizer (counts are estimates). The same prompt will tokenize differently, which shifts effective cost per word.