API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs NewGrok Build 0.1

Pick R1 0528 for lower cost; pick Grok Build 0.1 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick R1 0528 for lower cost; pick Grok Build 0.1 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).

Cost-first pickR1 0528

Context-first pickGrok Build 0.1

Sample savings$0.4321.3%

10x traffic gap$4.25

Grok Build 0.1 has more context, but R1 0528 saves $0.43 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $4.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors R1 0528, balanced workload favors R1 0528, and output-heavy chatbot favors Grok Build 0.1.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	R1 0528	Grok Build 0.1
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	R1 0528	$3.58	$6
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	R1 0528	$2.65	$3
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok Build 0.1	$11.25	$11

Cheaper input R1 0528 $0.5 vs $1 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).

Cheaper output Grok Build 0.1 $2.15 vs $2 / 1M

Grok Build 0.1 is $0.15 cheaper per 1M output tokens (7% lower; 1.07x difference).

Larger context Grok Build 0.1 163.84K vs 256K

Grok Build 0.1 has 92.16K more context (1.56x larger).

Sample workload R1 0528 $1.57 vs $2

R1 0528 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (21.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Grok Build 0.1 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

R1 0528 has the lower input price; Grok Build 0.1 has the lower output price; Grok Build 0.1 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, R1 0528 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $2 for Grok Build 0.1.

Best Fit

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower input-token price.

Choose Grok Build 0.1 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).
R1 0528 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (21.3% lower).
R1 0528 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
Grok Build 0.1 is $0.15 cheaper per 1M output tokens (7% lower; 1.07x difference).
Grok Build 0.1 has 92.16K more context (1.56x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)	NewGrok Build 0.1 (xAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$1
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.15	$2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.57	$2
Context Window	163.84K	256K
Release Date	2025-05-28	2026-05-20
Popularity	#106	#119

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	R1 0528	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	R1 0528	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok Build 0.1	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok Build 0.1	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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xAI catalog

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R1 0528

May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active...

Grok Build 0.1

Grok Build 0.1 is xAI’s fast coding model trained specifically for agentic software engineering workflows. It supports text and image inputs with text output, and is optimized for interactive coding...