API cost decision in 10 seconds

Grok 4.20 vs Qwen3 8B

Pick Qwen3 8B for lower cost; pick Grok 4.20 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 Qwen3 8B for lower cost; pick Grok 4.20 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 8B is estimated at $0.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.25 (90% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 8B

Context-first pickGrok 4.20

Sample savings$2.2590%

10x traffic gap$22.5

Grok 4.20 has more context, but Qwen3 8B saves $2.25 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $22.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3 8B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.20	Qwen3 8B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3 8B	$7.5	$0.45
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Qwen3 8B	$3.75	$0.45
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 8B	$13.75	$2.05

Cheaper input Qwen3 8B $1.25 vs $0.05 / 1M

Qwen3 8B is $1.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (96% lower; 25x difference).

Cheaper output Qwen3 8B $2.5 vs $0.4 / 1M

Qwen3 8B is $2.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (84% lower; 6.25x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.20 2M vs 131.07K

Grok 4.20 has 1.87M more context (15.3x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 8B $2.5 vs $0.25

Qwen3 8B is $2.25 cheaper on the standard workload (90% 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

Qwen3 8B 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

Qwen3 8B has the lower input price; Qwen3 8B has the lower output price; Grok 4.20 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 8B 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 $0.25 for Qwen3 8B.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.20 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 8B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 8B is estimated at $0.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.25 (90% lower).
Qwen3 8B is $2.25 cheaper on the standard workload (90% lower).
Qwen3 8B is $1.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (96% lower; 25x difference).
Qwen3 8B is $2.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (84% lower; 6.25x difference).
Grok 4.20 has 1.87M more context (15.3x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Grok 4.20 (xAI)	Qwen3 8B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$0.05
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$0.4
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$0.25
Context Window	2M	131.07K
Release Date	2026-03-31	2025-04-28
Popularity	#92	#102

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Qwen3 8B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 8B is estimated at $0.25 vs $2.5 for Grok 4.20, saving $2.25 (90% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3 8B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Qwen3 8B	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.
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3 8B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3 8B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3 8B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 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

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

xAI catalog

Review all tracked xAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open xAI models

Qwen catalog

Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Qwen models

Grok 4.20

Grok 4.20 is a reasoning model from xAI with industry-leading speed and agentic tool calling capabilities. It combines the lowest hallucination rate on the market with strict prompt adherance, delivering...

Qwen3 8B

Qwen3-8B is a dense 8.2B parameter causal language model from the Qwen3 series, designed for both reasoning-heavy tasks and efficient dialogue. It supports seamless switching between "thinking" mode for math,...