DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp vs xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast
Head-to-head API pricing and cost comparison between DeepSeek’s DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp and xAI’s xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast. Prices auto-refresh daily from OpenRouter.
xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast is 26% cheaper for input tokens; DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp wins on output tokens at $0.41/1M.
Side-by-side comparison
| Spec | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp | xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $0.27 | $0.20 |
| Cached input (per 1M) | — | $0.05 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $0.41 | $0.50 |
| Batch input (per 1M) | — | — |
| Batch output (per 1M) | — | — |
| Reasoning price (per 1M) | — | — |
| Context window | 164K | 2000K |
| Vision support | No | Yes |
| Caching support | No | 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 V3.2 Exp | xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
1K req/day 500in / 200out tokens | $6.51 | $6.00 | $0.51 xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast wins |
10K req/day 1500in / 500out tokens | $183.00 | $165.00 | $18.00 xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast wins |
100K req/day 3000in / 800out tokens | $3,414 | $3,000 | $414.00 xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast wins |
1M req/day 8000in / 2000out tokens | $89,400 | $78,000 | $11,400 xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast wins |
Adjust input/output token counts, request volume, batch & cached pricing.
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Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp or xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast?
For input tokens, xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast is roughly 26% cheaper at $0.20/1M vs $0.27/1M. For output tokens, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp wins at $0.41/1M. 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 V3.2 Exp has a context window of 164K tokens. xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast offers 2000K 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 V3.2 Exp or xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast?
Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp if you’re already on the DeepSeek stack, want broad ecosystem support, or prefer its lower output price. Choose xAI: Grok 4.1 Fast for xAI’s ecosystem, native vision input, or its cheaper input tokens. 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.