Compare / OpenAI vs xAI

AI labs compared · October 2026

OpenAI vs xAI: which AI lab is ahead?

Each lab's best model on sale goes head to head on every kind of work we measure, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. 31 models in all; a lab is only as good as the model you would actually pick from it.

27 models on sale with our resultsOpenAI Best: GPT-6.1 Sol · newest: GPT-6.1 Sol
4 models on sale with our resultsxAI Best: Grok 4.7 · newest: Grok 4.7
OpenAI wins 8xAI wins 0

Kinds of work led by each lab's best model there, of the 8 both are measured on.

Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe). Models on sale means listed on OpenRouter today.

OpenAI or xAI? The short answer

OpenAI is ahead: its best models beat xAI's in all 8 kinds of work both are measured on.

  • Pick OpenAI for product listings, decks from an analysis, marketing planning, agents and tool use, professional work, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
  • On our overall leaderboard, GPT-6.1 Sol is #2 (81 of 100) and Grok 4.7 is #14 (43).
  • Prices start at $0.060 per million tokens for OpenAI (gpt-oss-20b) and $1.56 for xAI (Grok 4.3).

Head to head

81GPT-6.1 Sol
Best Spring Prompt overall score
43Grok 4.7
52.7GPT-6 Astra
Best Intelligence Index
46.4Grok 4.7
$4.00GPT-6.1 Sol
Flagship price, per million tokens
$3.00Grok 4.7
$0.060gpt-oss-20b
Cheapest model, per million tokens
$1.56Grok 4.3
27
Models on sale with our results
4

Each line names the model behind the number. Prices are blended, three input tokens to one output, at the developer's list price where we have read it; see every model's price. Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis; overall score from our leaderboard.

Which lab is better for what

For each kind of work, each lab's best model there and its rank among every model on sale. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.

Product listingsTurning a sparse product feed and photos into listings that can go live 1 of 20GPT-6 Astra 4 of 20Grok 4.7
Decks from an analysisTurning a finished analysis into a deck you could present as it is 1 of 19GPT-6 Astra 9 of 19Grok 4.7
User surveysPlanning a user survey and reading its results without being misled 1 of 8GPT-6.1 Sol not measured
Marketing planningPlanning a year of ad spend without overspending 1 of 19GPT-6 Astra 11 of 19Grok 4.7
Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 3 of 164GPT-6.1 Sol 10 of 164Grok 4.6
Professional workReal tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects 1 of 51GPT-5.6 Sol 16 of 51Grok 4.6
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 3 of 198GPT-6 Astra 13 of 198Grok 4.6
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 14 of 188GPT-5.5 40 of 188Grok 4.5
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 18 of 152GPT-6.1 Sol 43 of 152Grok 4.5
Speed under pressureGood decisions against a real clock (fast chess) 10 of 22GPT-6 Sol not measured

Every model, by intelligence and price

Each dot is a model on sale with an Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis. Up is smarter; left is cheaper. Hover or tap a dot for its name.

OpenAIxAI

0204060 $0.01$0.1$1$10$100 Price per million tokens, blended (log scale) Intelligence Index GPT-6.1 SolGPT-6 AstraGPT-6 SolGPT-5.6 SolGrok 4.7Grok 4.6

On our overall leaderboard

The 5 of their models we rank overall: one score out of 100 across everything we publish (how the score works). Only models with enough of our own results are ranked.

  1. #2GPT-6.1 Sol81
  2. #3GPT-6 Astra79
  3. #4GPT-6 Sol69
  4. #14Grok 4.743
  5. #15GPT-6 Luna40

Benchmark by benchmark

The headline result of every benchmark both labs have models on: each lab's best model and its rank among the models on sale. Green marks the better rank.

MeasureOpenAIxAI
Agents and tool use
Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 59.6%GPT-6 Astra · 2 of 10525.8%Grok 4.7 · 19 of 105
Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better 89.9%GPT-6 Astra · 2 of 11588.4%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 115
Artificial Analysis · τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better 44.3%GPT-5.6 Sol · 12 of 11350.7%Grok 4.6 · 1 of 113
Vending-Bench 2 · Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better $15,515GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 56$9,047Grok 4.6 · 6 of 56
Decks from an analysis
DeckBench · Deck ratingrating, higher is better 1,477GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 191,229Grok 4.7 · 9 of 19
Marketing planning
ROASBench · Overall scorescore out of 100, higher is better 56.6GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 1936.6Grok 4.7 · 11 of 19
Product listings
CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready% of products, higher is better 75.0%GPT-6.1 Sol · 1 of 2057.1%Grok 4.7 · 4 of 20
CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready · sales brief% of products, higher is better 69.6%GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 2033.9%Grok 4.7 · 5 of 20
Professional work
APEX-Agents · Tasks passed% of tasks, higher is better 64.7%GPT-6 Astra · 7 of 3765.3%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 37
GDP.pdf · Professional document tasks% of rubric, higher is better 30.7%GPT-5.6 Sol · 1 of 3117.2%Grok 4.6 · 19 of 31
Reasoning and knowledge
Artificial Analysis · Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 52.7GPT-6 Astra · 4 of 19846.4Grok 4.7 · 11 of 198
Artificial Analysis · Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 54.7%GPT-6 Astra · 6 of 19744.1%Grok 4.6 · 21 of 197
Artificial Analysis · GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 96.3%GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 18794.9%Grok 4.6 · 3 of 187
Sticking to the facts
Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 1,486GPT-5.5 · 5 of 1131,465Grok 4.5 · 28 of 113
SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 75.6%GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 7349.3%Grok 4.6 · 26 of 73
Writing
Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 1,484GPT-5.6 Sol · 14 of 1661,466Grok 4.5 · 33 of 166
UGI Leaderboard · Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better 69.7GPT-5.5 · 11 of 13863.3Grok 4.6 · 29 of 138

Their models, one against one

Quick answers

Is OpenAI or xAI better?

OpenAI is ahead: its best models beat xAI's in all 8 kinds of work both are measured on.

What is OpenAI's best model?

GPT-6.1 Sol: #2 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 51.8 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

What is xAI's best model?

Grok 4.7: #14 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 46.4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

Which is better for agents and tool use, OpenAI or xAI?

OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-6.1 Sol, ranks 3 of 164 models on sale, against 10 for xAI's Grok 4.6.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, OpenAI or xAI?

OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-6 Astra, ranks 3 of 198 models on sale, against 13 for xAI's Grok 4.6.

Which is better for writing, OpenAI or xAI?

OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-5.5, ranks 14 of 188 models on sale, against 40 for xAI's Grok 4.5.

Which is cheaper, OpenAI or xAI?

OpenAI's cheapest model with results, gpt-oss-20b, costs $0.060 per million tokens (three input to one output), against $1.56 for Grok 4.3 from xAI.

Other labs compared

Which model is best for your product?

Benchmarks aren't your data. We test the models from OpenAI, xAI and the rest on your own tasks, with the cost of every answer.

Talk to usSee the leaderboard