Grok 3 Mini Reasoning vs o4-mini
Wins 1 of 6 areas
Facts
Wins 4 of 6 areas
Agents · Reasoning · Long documents · Following instructions
o4-mini is the stronger all-rounder.Grok 3 Mini Reasoning is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 22 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking01o4-mini1 of 3 tests · 2 ties
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21Grok 3 Mini Reasoning2 of 3 tests
- CodingWriting and fixing software11Even1 each
Agents, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning costs 85% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where o4-mini pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+22.8points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+9.7points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+5.9points ahead
Where Grok 3 Mini Reasoning pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+54.7points ahead
- Short factual questions, answered correctlySimpleQA Verified+2.3points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+2.2points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 22 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingEven
- SciCodeo4-mini by 5.940.646.5+5.9
- Terminal-Bench HardGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 2.217.415.2+2.2
Reasoningo4-mini
- Humanity's Last Examo4-mini by 5.51116.5+5.5
- GPQA Diamondtie79.178.4tie
- CritPttie0.60.6tie
FactsGrok 3 Mini Reasoning
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 54.774.219.5+54.7
- AA-Omniscience · Accuracyo4-mini by 9.715.124.8+9.7
- SimpleQA VerifiedGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 2.321.118.8+2.3
Other results11 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- ARC-AGI-1o4-mini by 42.216.558.7+42.2
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Grok 3 Mini Reasoning by 34.890.455.6+34.8
- AA-OmniscienceGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 28.9-6.8-35.7+28.9
- AA Agentic Indexo4-mini by 4.931.236.1+4.9
- LiveCodeBenchGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 380.477.4+3
- livecodebench_hardGrok 3 Mini Reasoning by 2.251.148.9+2.2
- AA Intelligenceo4-mini by 2.114.616.7+2.1
- AIME 2025o4-mini by 1.990.892.7+1.9
- livecodebench_easytie98.198.8tie
- Artificial Analysis Coding Indextie25.225.6tie
- livecodebench_mediumtie85.986.2tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Grok 3 Mini Reasoning or o4-mini?
o4-mini wins four of the six areas where both have results: agents, reasoning, long documents and following instructions. Grok 3 Mini Reasoning wins facts, and costs 85% less. They are level on coding.
Which is better for coding?
Neither. They win 1 coding test each of the 2 both models report.
Which is cheaper?
Grok 3 Mini Reasoning costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; o4-mini costs $1.10 and $4.40. That makes Grok 3 Mini Reasoning about 85% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 22 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 11 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 11 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.