API cost decision in 10 seconds

Grok 4.20 vs GPT-5.4 Pro

Pick Grok 4.20 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T10:03:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T12:43:06Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Grok 4.20 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.5 (97.9% lower).

Cost-first pickGrok 4.20

Context-first pickGrok 4.20

Sample savings$117.597.9%

10x traffic gap$1175

Grok 4.20 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1175. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Grok 4.20 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.20	GPT-5.4 Pro
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Grok 4.20	$7.5	$240
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Grok 4.20	$3.75	$210
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok 4.20	$13.75	$930

Cheaper input Grok 4.20 $1.25 vs $30 / 1M

Grok 4.20 is $28.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.8% lower; 24x difference).

Cheaper output Grok 4.20 $2.5 vs $180 / 1M

Grok 4.20 is $177.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.6% lower; 72x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.20 2M vs 1.05M

Grok 4.20 has 950K more context (1.9x larger).

Sample workload Grok 4.20 $2.5 vs $120

Grok 4.20 is $117.5 cheaper on the standard workload (97.9% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Grok 4.20 Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-5.4 Pro 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 4.20 has the lower input price; Grok 4.20 has the lower output price; Grok 4.20 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Grok 4.20 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.5 for Grok 4.20 and $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.20 when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose GPT-5.4 Pro when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.5 (97.9% lower).
Grok 4.20 is $117.5 cheaper on the standard workload (97.9% lower).
Grok 4.20 is $28.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.8% lower; 24x difference).
Grok 4.20 is $177.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.6% lower; 72x difference).
Grok 4.20 has 950K more context (1.9x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Grok 4.20 (xAI)	GPT-5.4 Pro (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$30
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$180
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$120
Context Window	2M	1.05M
Release Date	2026-03-31	2026-03-05

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Grok 4.20	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.20 is estimated at $2.5 vs $120 for GPT-5.4 Pro, saving $117.5 (97.9% lower).
High-volume input processing	Grok 4.20	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok 4.20	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok 4.20	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Grok Build 0.1 can replace Grok 4.20 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.
gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.

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xAI catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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