Grok 3 vs SmolLM2 1.7B
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Grok 3 specs · SmolLM2 1.7B specs- PriceGrok 3
Grok 3 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while SmolLM2 1.7B does not.
- Context windowGrok 3
Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K, 15.6× 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.
- ModalitiesGrok 3
Grok 3 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for SmolLM2 1.7B.
- OpennessSmolLM2 1.7B
SmolLM2 1.7B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 3 is API-only.
On balance Grok 3 edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against SmolLM2 1.7B's 1. Grok 3 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while SmolLM2 1.7B does not. Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K, 15.6× 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, Grok 3 handles text, vision while SmolLM2 1.7B handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. SmolLM2 1.7B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 3 is API-only.
Grok 3 is the newer of the two, released 4 months after SmolLM2 1.7B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Grok 3 is usually picked for chatbots and research agent workloads, while SmolLM2 1.7B sees more deployments in on device and edge deployment. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Grok 3 | SmolLM2 1.7B |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | Other |
| Released | Feb 2025 | Nov 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 8.2K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $3.00 / 1M tokens | Pricing not published |
| Output · 1M | $15.00 / 1M tokens | Pricing not published |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | , |
| Open weights | No | Yes (Apache-2.0) |
| API available | Yes | No |
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$31.50 vs ,
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$315 vs ,
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$540 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).
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Grok 3$1.05
- SmolLM2 1.7BPricing unavailable
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
Grok 3 fits when…
- Real-time X access
- Reasoning modes
- Long-context tasks, handles 128K tokens vs 8.2K for SmolLM2 1.7B.
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
SmolLM2 1.7B fits when…
- Truly tiny
- Apache-2.0
- Runs on phones
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Apache-2.0).
Consider Grok 4
xAI's mid-2025 flagship, top scores on Humanity's Last Exam at launch, with native real-time X integration.
Frequently asked
Is Grok 3 or SmolLM2 1.7B 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?
Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K for SmolLM2 1.7B.Is Grok 3 or SmolLM2 1.7B better for coding?
Both Grok 3 and SmolLM2 1.7B 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?
SmolLM2 1.7B ships open weights (Apache-2.0). Grok 3 is API-only.When were Grok 3 and SmolLM2 1.7B released?
Grok 3 was released by xAI on 2025-02-17. SmolLM2 1.7B was released by Other on 2024-11-01.
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