Gemini 3 Pro Max vs Grok 4 Max: which model should you choose?
We compared Gemini 3 Pro Max and Grok 4 Max on price, context window and 12 benchmarks. Gemini 3 Pro Max has the stronger average benchmark score; Grok 4 Max is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis.
Gemini 3 Pro Max
Gemini 3 Pro Max is a frontier model from Google DeepMind. It offers a 2,000,000-token context window, costs $20.57 per million input tokens and $112.92 per million output tokens, and averages 87.9 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $20.57 / 1M
- Output
- $112.92 / 1M
- Context
- 2,000,000
- Avg score
- 87.9
- Open weights
- No
Grok 4 Max
Grok 4 Max is a frontier model from xAI. It offers a 2,000,000-token context window, costs $19.70 per million input tokens and $98.29 per million output tokens, and averages 86.6 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $19.70 / 1M
- Output
- $98.29 / 1M
- Context
- 2,000,000
- Avg score
- 86.6
- Open weights
- No
Specification comparison
| Spec | Gemini 3 Pro Max | Grok 4 Max | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M | $20.57 | $19.70 | B |
| Output price / 1M | $112.92 | $98.29 | B |
| Context window | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | Tie |
| Max output | 128,000 | 16,384 | A |
| Average score | 87.9 | 86.6 | A |
| Arena Elo | 1477.5 | 1491.4 | B |
| Open weights | No | No | Tie |
Benchmark comparison
Gemini 3 Pro Max wins 7, Grok 4 Max wins 5, and 0 benchmarks are tied. The table shows the modelled score for each model and the gap.
| Benchmark | Gemini 3 Pro Max | Grok 4 Max | Gap | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 89.5 | 87.8 | 1.7 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| GPQA Diamond | 81.8 | 82.0 | 0.2 | Grok 4 Max |
| SWE-bench Verified | 76.6 | 74.3 | 2.3 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| HumanEval | 91.9 | 93.4 | 1.5 | Grok 4 Max |
| MATH-500 | 92.1 | 94.6 | 2.5 | Grok 4 Max |
| AIME 2025 | 89.6 | 87.3 | 2.3 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| LiveCodeBench | 83.6 | 81.3 | 2.3 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| IFEval | 94.7 | 92.5 | 2.2 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| TruthfulQA | 89.6 | 85.8 | 3.8 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| HellaSwag | 92.6 | 94.1 | 1.5 | Grok 4 Max |
| MMMU | 84.4 | 80.0 | 4.4 | Gemini 3 Pro Max |
| Arena Elo | 1477.5 | 1491.4 | 13.9 | Grok 4 Max |
Price analysis
On a blended 3:1 input-to-output basis, Gemini 3 Pro Max costs about $43.66 per million tokens and Grok 4 Max costs about $39.35. Grok 4 Max is roughly 10% cheaper than Gemini 3 Pro Max. At high volume, that gap compounds quickly, so price should carry real weight unless the quality difference is decisive.
Both models list a 2,000,000-token context window. That is enough for long documents, large codebases and multi-step agent traces.
Verdict
Across 12 shared benchmarks, Gemini 3 Pro Max wins 7, Grok 4 Max wins 5, and 0 are tied. On the index average, Gemini 3 Pro Max leads Grok 4 Max by 1.3 points (87.9 versus 86.6).
The price picture favours Grok 4 Max. The context picture is effectively a tie. Those two dimensions often matter more than a few benchmark points once a model is good enough for the task.
If you need a single default, start with Gemini 3 Pro Max for quality-sensitive work and Grok 4 Max for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.
Choose Gemini 3 Pro Max if
- You want the higher average benchmark score in this index.
- You need the larger 128,000-token output limit.
Choose Grok 4 Max if
- Unit cost matters and you want the cheaper blended price.
FAQ
Is Gemini 3 Pro Max better than Grok 4 Max?
On the index average, Gemini 3 Pro Max leads Grok 4 Max by 1.3 points (87.9 versus 86.6). The better choice depends on price, context and your task. Gemini 3 Pro Max wins 7 benchmarks, Grok 4 Max wins 5.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3 Pro Max or Grok 4 Max?
Grok 4 Max is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis at about $39.35 per million tokens, versus $43.66 for Gemini 3 Pro Max.
Which has the larger context window?
Both models list a 2,000,000-token context window.
Are these models open weights?
Gemini 3 Pro Max is proprietary; Grok 4 Max is proprietary.
Which should I choose for production?
If you need a single default, start with Gemini 3 Pro Max for quality-sensitive work and Grok 4 Max for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.