API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewAion 3.5 vs Grok Latest

Pick Grok Latest when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-09-23T14:07:58Z Data confirmed: 2026-09-23T16:07:52Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Grok Latest when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok Latest is estimated at $4 vs $6 for Aion 3.5, saving $2 (33.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGrok Latest

Context-first pickGrok Latest

Sample savings$233.3%

10x traffic gap$20

Grok Latest is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $20. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Grok Latest stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Aion 3.5	Grok Latest
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Grok Latest	$18	$10.4
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Grok Latest	$9	$6.4
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok Latest	$33	$25.6

Cheaper input Grok Latest $3 vs $1.6 / 1M

Grok Latest is $1.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).

Cheaper output Grok Latest $6 vs $4.8 / 1M

Grok Latest is $1.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).

Larger context Grok Latest 262.14K vs 500K

Grok Latest has 237.86K more context (1.91x larger).

Sample workload Grok Latest $6 vs $4

Grok Latest is $2 cheaper on the standard workload (33.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Aion 3.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Grok Latest Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Grok Latest has the lower input price; Grok Latest has the lower output price; Grok Latest offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Grok Latest is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Aion 3.5 and $4 for Grok Latest.

Best Fit

Choose Aion 3.5 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Choose Grok Latest when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok Latest is estimated at $4 vs $6 for Aion 3.5, saving $2 (33.3% lower).
Grok Latest is $2 cheaper on the standard workload (33.3% lower).
Grok Latest is $1.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).
Grok Latest is $1.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
Grok Latest has 237.86K more context (1.91x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewAion 3.5 (AionLabs)	Grok Latest (xAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$3	$1.6
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$6	$4.8
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$6	$4
Context Window	262.14K	500K
Release Date	2026-09-23	2026-07-08

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Grok Latest	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok Latest is estimated at $4 vs $6 for Aion 3.5, saving $2 (33.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	Grok Latest	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok Latest	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok Latest	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Aion 3.5 Mini can replace Aion 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.4.
Aion-3.0-Mini can replace Aion 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.4.
Aion-1.0-Mini can replace Aion 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.4.
Aion-2.0 can replace Aion 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.6.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.36 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

MiMo-V2.6-Pro · Xiaomi · #1
GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #2
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #3
Hy4 preview · Tencent · #4

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Provider catalogs

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AionLabs catalog

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xAI catalog

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