DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus vs xAI: Grok 4
Head-to-head API pricing and cost comparison between DeepSeek’s DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus and xAI’s xAI: Grok 4. Prices auto-refresh daily from OpenRouter.
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus is 93% cheaper for input tokens; DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus also wins on output tokens.
Side-by-side comparison
| Spec | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | xAI: Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $0.21 | $3.00 |
| Cached input (per 1M) | $0.13 | $0.75 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $0.79 | $15.00 |
| Batch input (per 1M) | — | — |
| Batch output (per 1M) | — | — |
| Reasoning price (per 1M) | — | — |
| Context window | 164K | 256K |
| Vision support | No | Yes |
| Caching support | Yes | Yes |
| Batch API | No | No |
| Reasoning capability | No | No |
Monthly cost at volume
Estimated monthly API spend at common production traffic levels (input/output tokens per request shown).
| Volume | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | xAI: Grok 4 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
1K req/day 500in / 200out tokens | $7.89 | $135.00 | $127.11 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus wins |
10K req/day 1500in / 500out tokens | $213.00 | $3,600 | $3,387 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus wins |
100K req/day 3000in / 800out tokens | $3,786 | $63,000 | $59,214 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus wins |
1M req/day 8000in / 2000out tokens | $97,800 | $1,620,000 | $1,522,200 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus wins |
Adjust input/output token counts, request volume, batch & cached pricing.
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Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus or xAI: Grok 4?
For input tokens, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus is roughly 93% cheaper at $0.21/1M vs $3.00/1M. For output tokens, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus wins at $0.79/1M. Real-world cost depends on your input/output ratio — use the calculator to model your actual workload.
What’s the context window difference?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has a context window of 164K tokens. xAI: Grok 4 offers 256K tokens. Larger context windows are valuable for long documents, RAG pipelines, and multi-turn conversations — but they come with higher input-token bills if you fill them every request.
Should I use DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus or xAI: Grok 4?
Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus if you’re already on the DeepSeek stack, want broad ecosystem support, or prefer its lower input price. Choose xAI: Grok 4 for xAI’s ecosystem, native vision input, or its differentiated capabilities. Run a small benchmark on your own prompts before committing — price is only one axis.
How are these prices kept current?
Prices are pulled directly from OpenRouter’s public models API once every 24 hours via a Convex cron job, then normalized to per-1M-token figures. Last refresh: Apr 21, 2026.