XAI VS ALIBABA
Grok Code Fast 1 vs Qwen3 Max
Grok Code Fast 1 is about 4.6x cheaper than Qwen3 Max on a blended 3:1 input:output rate — the same 10K-in/2K-out request costs $0.005 vs $0.024. Grok Code Fast 1 has the larger context window (256,000 vs 252,000 tokens).
Pricing verified
API pricing per 1M tokens
| Model | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens | Blended (3:1 mix) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grok Code Fast 1 | $0.20 | $1.50 | $0.525 |
| Qwen3 Max | $1.20 | $6.00 | $2.40 |
Rates from official xAI pricing and official Alibaba 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grok Code Fast 1 | $0.005 | $500 | — |
| Qwen3 Max | $0.024 | $2,400 | +$1,900 |
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 | Grok Code Fast 1 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | Alibaba |
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 252,000 tokens |
| Model class | General text | Reasoning |
| Tokenizer | Proprietary (counts estimated) | qwen (exact, public) |
Count tokens for each model on its own page: Grok Code Fast 1 token counter and Qwen3 Max token counter. All xAI models are on the Grok Token Counter. All Alibaba models are on the Qwen Token Counter.
FAQ
Grok Code Fast 1 vs Qwen3 Max FAQ
Which is cheaper, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3 Max?
Grok Code Fast 1 is cheaper. At rates checked 2026-08-11, Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.20 input / $1.50 output per 1M tokens, while Qwen3 Max costs $1.20 input / $6.00 output — about a 4.6x difference on a typical 3:1 input-heavy workload.
How much does a real request cost on Grok Code Fast 1 vs Qwen3 Max?
A request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens costs about $0.005 on Grok Code Fast 1 and $0.024 on Qwen3 Max. At 100,000 such requests per month that is $500 vs $2,400 — a difference of $1,900 per month.
Which has the bigger context window, Grok Code Fast 1 or Qwen3 Max?
Grok Code Fast 1. It supports 256,000 tokens of context versus 252,000 tokens — roughly 192,000 English words in one request.
Do Grok Code Fast 1 and Qwen3 Max count tokens the same way?
Not exactly. Grok Code Fast 1 uses a proprietary tokenizer (counts are estimates) and Qwen3 Max uses the published qwen tokenizer. The same prompt will tokenize differently, which shifts effective cost per word.