Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs Grok-3
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 (2025) and Grok-3 (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Google DeepMind and xAI. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 ships a 1M-token context window, while Grok-3 ships a 1M-token context window. On Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 leads by 1.6 pts. On pricing, Grok-3 costs $0.8/1M input tokens versus $1.25/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Grok-3 is ~56% cheaper at $0.8/1M; pay for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 only for provider fit.
Specs
| Released | 2025-05-06 | 2026-01-15 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Parameters | — | 1B |
| Architecture | decoder only | - |
| License | Unknown | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-04 |
Pricing and availability
| Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok-3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.25/1M tokens | $0.8/1M tokens |
| Output price | $10/1M tokens | $2.4/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok-3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding | 79.6 | 78.0 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding has Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 at 79.6 and Grok-3 at 78, with Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 ahead by 1.6 points. The largest visible gap is 1.6 points on Massive Multi-discipline Multimodal Understanding, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Grok-3, multimodal input: Grok-3, reasoning mode: Grok-3, function calling: Grok-3, and tool use: Grok-3. Both models share structured outputs, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 lists $1.25/1M input and $10/1M output tokens, while Grok-3 lists $0.8/1M input and $2.4/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Grok-3 lower by about $2.6 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Grok-3 when reasoning depth, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Grok-3?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 supports 1M tokens, while Grok-3 supports 1M tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Grok-3?
Grok-3 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 costs $1.25/1M input and $10/1M output tokens. Grok-3 costs $0.8/1M input and $2.4/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Grok-3 open source?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is listed under Unknown. Grok-3 is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Grok-3?
Grok-3 has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for multimodal input, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Grok-3?
Grok-3 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 and Grok-3?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is available on OpenRouter. Grok-3 is available on OpenRouter, xAI Console, and Chutes AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.