Grok 4 vs Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning
Grok 4 vs Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning: Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning is cheaper by 60% on average. Grok 4 from xAI (256,000-token context, tool calls) vs. Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning from xAI (2,000,000-token context, reasoning, tool calls). Use Agent Command Center to A/B both in shadow mode and pick the winner per workload.
Side-by-side cost
Live workload comparison
Same workload run through both models. The cheaper one is highlighted.
3,000
02,000,000
400
0200,000
5,000
01,000,000
At this workload, Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning is 44% cheaper than Grok 4 — a savings of $1,004/month ($12,053/year).
Production recipe — Agent Command Center
strategy: cost-optimized
primary:
model: grok-4-20-beta-0309-reasoning
provider: xai
fallback:
model: grok-4
provider: xai
shadow: { sample_rate: 0.05 } # mirror 5% of traffic to compare quality live| Grok 4 | Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3.00/M | $2.00/M |
| Output price | $15.00/M | $6.00/M |
| Context window | 256,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Max output | 256,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Function calling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vision | — | ✓ |
| Audio input | — | — |
| Reasoning | — | ✓ |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Structured output | — | — |
| Pricing verified | May 12, 2026 | May 12, 2026 |
Benchmark comparison
Side-by-side public benchmark scores. Greener bar = winner.
Chatbot Arena ELOgeneral
Grok 4
1,459
Grok 4.20 beta 0309 Reasoning
1,477