API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewGrok 4.3 vs GPT-5.4 Mini

Pick Grok 4.3 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T10:03:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T13:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Grok 4.3 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.3 is estimated at $2.5 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $0.5 (16.7% lower).

Cost-first pickGrok 4.3

Context-first pickGrok 4.3

Sample savings$0.516.7%

10x traffic gap$5

Grok 4.3 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $5. 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 GPT-5.4 Mini, balanced workload favors Grok 4.3, and output-heavy chatbot favors Grok 4.3.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Grok 4.3	GPT-5.4 Mini
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-5.4 Mini	$7.5	$6
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Grok 4.3	$3.75	$5.25
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok 4.3	$13.75	$23.25

Cheaper input GPT-5.4 Mini $1.25 vs $0.75 / 1M

GPT-5.4 Mini is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).

Cheaper output Grok 4.3 $2.5 vs $4.5 / 1M

Grok 4.3 is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (44.4% lower; 1.8x difference).

Larger context Grok 4.3 1M vs 400K

Grok 4.3 has 600K more context (2.5x larger).

Sample workload Grok 4.3 $2.5 vs $3

Grok 4.3 is $0.5 cheaper on the standard workload (16.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Grok 4.3 Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-5.4 Mini 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

GPT-5.4 Mini has the lower input price; Grok 4.3 has the lower output price; Grok 4.3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Grok 4.3 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 4.3 and $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini.

Best Fit

Choose Grok 4.3 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose GPT-5.4 Mini when you care most about lower input-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.3 is estimated at $2.5 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $0.5 (16.7% lower).
Grok 4.3 is $0.5 cheaper on the standard workload (16.7% lower).
GPT-5.4 Mini is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
Grok 4.3 is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (44.4% lower; 1.8x difference).
Grok 4.3 has 600K more context (2.5x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewGrok 4.3 (xAI)	GPT-5.4 Mini (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.25	$0.75
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$4.5
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$3
Context Window	1M	400K
Release Date	2026-04-30	2026-03-17

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Grok 4.3	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok 4.3 is estimated at $2.5 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $0.5 (16.7% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-5.4 Mini	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok 4.3	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Grok 4.3	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 4.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.
gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 Mini 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.
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

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

OpenAI catalog

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

Open OpenAI models

Grok 4.3

Grok 4.3 is a reasoning model from xAI. It accepts text and image inputs with text output, and is suited for agentic workflows, instruction-following tasks, and applications requiring high factual...

GPT-5.4 Mini

GPT-5.4 mini brings the core capabilities of GPT-5.4 to a faster, more efficient model optimized for high-throughput workloads. It supports text and image inputs with strong performance across reasoning, coding,...