An open model from xAI delivering exceptional output speed and a large context window, but with below-average intelligence and a very high price point.
Grok 2, released by xAI in December 2024, enters the market as a highly specialized large language model. It establishes a clear and potent trade-off: world-class generation speed in exchange for premium pricing and moderate intelligence. As an open model with a generous 131,000-token context window, Grok 2 offers significant flexibility for developers who can afford its costs and operate within its specific performance profile. It is not designed to be a general-purpose leader, but rather a finely-tuned instrument for applications where response time is the most critical factor.
The defining characteristic of Grok 2 is its velocity. Clocking in at a median output speed of 82.1 tokens per second, it ranks among the fastest models available, nearly doubling the average speed of its peers. This performance, combined with a low latency of just over half a second for the first token, makes it an exceptional choice for real-time, interactive applications. However, this speed is counterbalanced by its cognitive capabilities. On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Grok 2 scores a 25, placing it noticeably below the average of 33 for comparable non-reasoning models. This suggests that while it can generate text rapidly, it may struggle with tasks requiring deep nuance, complex instruction following, or sophisticated reasoning.
The other major consideration is cost. Grok 2 is positioned at the absolute top end of the market. Its pricing structure of $2.00 per million input tokens and a staggering $10.00 per million output tokens makes it one of the most expensive models to operate. The 5x price differential between input and output heavily penalizes generative and conversational use cases, where the volume of output tokens often equals or exceeds the input. This pricing strategy strongly signals that the model is intended for specific, high-value workloads where its speed provides a justifiable return on investment, rather than for mass-market, cost-sensitive applications.
Consequently, the ideal use cases for Grok 2 are narrow but clear. It excels in scenarios where users experience the model's output directly and immediately, such as in chatbots, live content moderation, or real-time summarization tools where a delay of even a few seconds can degrade the user experience. Developers who can leverage its open license for fine-tuning on specific, high-speed generation tasks may also find value. However, for any workload that is cost-sensitive, requires top-tier intelligence, or involves generating long-form content, Grok 2's high cost and moderate intelligence score make it a challenging proposition.
25 (21 / 30)
82.1 tokens/s
2.00 $/1M tokens
10.00 $/1M tokens
N/A
0.51 seconds
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Model Name | Grok 2 |
| Owner | xAI |
| License | Open |
| Release Date | December 2024 |
| Model Type | Open-weight, Non-reasoning |
| Context Window | 131,000 tokens |
| Intelligence Score | 25 (Artificial Analysis Index) |
| Median Output Speed | 82.1 tokens/second |
| Latency (TTFT) | 0.51 seconds |
| Input Token Price | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output Token Price | $10.00 / 1M tokens |
| Blended Price (3:1) | $4.00 / 1M tokens |
As Grok 2 is developed and served exclusively by xAI, there are no alternative API providers to compare. The decision is not which provider to choose, but whether Grok 2's unique profile of high speed and high cost is the right fit for your project's specific priorities.
| Priority | Pick | Why | Tradeoff to accept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Speed | xAI | As the sole provider, xAI is the only place to access Grok 2's class-leading 82 tokens/s output speed. | You will pay a significant premium in both price and compromised intelligence. |
| Lowest Cost | Look Elsewhere | Grok 2 is one of the most expensive models on the market. Cheaper alternatives exist for nearly every use case. | You will sacrifice Grok 2's raw generation speed. |
| Best Intelligence | Look Elsewhere | With an intelligence score of 25, Grok 2 is significantly below the average. Other models offer better reasoning for less money. | Alternative models will likely be slower to generate responses. |
| Large Context Tasks | xAI (with caution) | The 131k context window is a key feature, and xAI is the only provider. | The cost to utilize the large context window is very high, both for input and output. |
Provider analysis based on performance and pricing data collected by Artificial Analysis in December 2024. Metrics reflect median performance on the xAI API and are subject to change.
The abstract prices of $2.00 (input) and $10.00 (output) per million tokens can be difficult to translate into project budgets. The following scenarios demonstrate the real-world cost of using Grok 2 for common tasks, highlighting the significant impact of its output-centric pricing.
| Scenario | Input | Output | What it represents | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Chatbot Response | 500 tokens | 150 tokens | A single turn in a customer service conversation. | $0.0025 |
| Email Draft Generation | 100 tokens | 400 tokens | Generating a standard professional email from a short prompt. | $0.0042 |
| Document Summarization | 5,000 tokens | 500 tokens | A typical RAG task, summarizing a medium-length document. | $0.0150 |
| Simple Code Generation | 200 tokens | 800 tokens | Creating a function based on a descriptive comment. | $0.0084 |
| Large Context Analysis | 100,000 tokens | 1,000 tokens | A 'needle-in-a-haystack' search within a large document. | $0.2100 |
These examples show that costs are dominated by output. Tasks with a high output-to-input ratio, like drafting and code generation, become disproportionately expensive. Even input-heavy workloads like summarization carry a high cost due to the expensive baseline input price, making Grok 2 a premium-cost solution across the board.
Grok 2's premium pricing, particularly its market-leading output cost, makes a deliberate cost-management strategy essential. Without careful planning, expenses can quickly spiral. The following tactics can help you harness the model's speed while keeping your budget under control.
The single most effective cost-control measure is to reduce the number of output tokens the model generates. This requires careful prompt engineering.
Grok 2 should not be your default model for all tasks. Instead, use it as a specialist tool within a broader AI system.
Given the high cost of every API call, avoiding redundant requests provides a significant return on investment. A robust caching layer is critical.
With a 5x price difference between input and output, simply tracking total token count is insufficient. Your monitoring and analytics must differentiate between the two.
Grok 2 is a large language model from xAI, released in December 2024. It is characterized by its exceptional generation speed, large 131k token context window, and open license. It is positioned as a premium model for speed-critical applications, with a corresponding high price and moderate intelligence.
Grok 2 is primarily for developers and businesses building applications where the speed of the AI's response is a critical part of the user experience. This includes real-time chatbots, live content generation tools, and high-throughput automation systems where latency is a key bottleneck. It is less suitable for users who prioritize budget or require state-of-the-art reasoning.
Grok 2 scores 25 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, which is below the average of 33 for comparable models in its class. This indicates that while it is very fast, it is not a top performer for tasks that require complex reasoning, deep understanding of nuance, or sophisticated problem-solving.
Its premium pricing, especially the $10.00/1M output token cost, reflects its specialized nature. xAI has positioned Grok 2 as a high-performance tool for specific use cases rather than a general-purpose, cost-competitive model. The high output cost likely serves to guide users towards tasks that require fast, short responses rather than long-form content generation.
An open license means the model's weights are publicly available. This allows advanced users to download and run the model on their own infrastructure, offering benefits like data privacy, customization through fine-tuning, and independence from a third-party API. However, this requires significant computational resources (i.e., powerful GPUs) and technical expertise to manage effectively.
The 131k context window is a powerful feature for processing large amounts of information at once, such as analyzing a full legal document or maintaining a very long conversation history. However, it must be used judiciously due to the high input cost. Filling the entire context window for a single prompt costs over $0.26, so it should be reserved for tasks that genuinely benefit from access to such a large body of text.