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GPT-5 vs Grok 2

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

GPT-5 specs · Grok 2 specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceGPT-5

    GPT-5 publishes pricing ($10.00 / 1M output tokens) while Grok 2 does not.

  • Context windowGPT-5

    GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K, 3.1× the room for long documents and codebases.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesGPT-5

    GPT-5 supports 3 modalities (text, vision, audio) vs 2 for Grok 2.

  • OpennessTie

    Both are closed-weight, API-only.

On balance GPT-5 edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against Grok 2's 0. GPT-5 publishes pricing ($10.00 / 1M output tokens) while Grok 2 does not. GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K, 3.1× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, GPT-5 handles text, vision, audio while Grok 2 handles text, vision, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

GPT-5 is the newer of the two, released 12 months after Grok 2, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. GPT-5 is usually picked for coding llm and agents workloads, while Grok 2 sees more deployments in chatbots. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecGPT-5Grok 2
ProviderOpenAIxAI
ReleasedAug 2025Aug 2024
Modalitiestext, vision, audiotext, vision
Context window400K tokens128K tokens
Max output128K tokens,
Input · 1M$1.25 / 1M tokensPricing not published
Output · 1M$10.00 / 1M tokensPricing not published
Knowledge cutoff2024-09,
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$18.75 vs ,
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$188 vs ,
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$248 vs ,

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • GPT-5$0.625
  • Grok 2Pricing unavailable

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

GPT-5Grok 2
  • MMLU91.4
  • HumanEval96.2
  • GPQA89.4
  • SWE-bench Verified74.9
Pick GPT-5 if

GPT-5 fits when…

  • Unified model, reasoning routed automatically per query
  • Excellent tool-use and JSON-mode discipline
  • Strong agent performance on SWE-bench Verified
  • Long-context tasks, handles 400K tokens vs 128K for Grok 2.
  • Multimodal needs covering audio.
Pick Grok 2 if

Grok 2 fits when…

  • Free on X Premium
  • Real-time data
Don't want either?

Consider GPT-5.5

OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.

See GPT-5.5 specsGPT-5 vs GPT-5.5Grok 2 vs GPT-5.5

Frequently asked

  • Is GPT-5 or Grok 2 cheaper?
    Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K for Grok 2.
  • Is GPT-5 or Grok 2 better for coding?
    Both GPT-5 and Grok 2 are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.
  • When were GPT-5 and Grok 2 released?
    GPT-5 was released by OpenAI on 2025-08-07. Grok 2 was released by xAI on 2024-08-13.
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