Grok 3 Mini vs Llama Guard 4 12B
Grok 3 Mini (2025) and Llama Guard 4 12B (2025) are general-purpose language models from xAI and AI at Meta. Grok 3 Mini ships a 131k-token context window, while Llama Guard 4 12B ships a 164K-token context window. On pricing, Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18/1M input tokens versus $0.3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama Guard 4 12B is ~67% cheaper at $0.18/1M; pay for Grok 3 Mini only for provider fit.
Specs
| Released | 2025-02-17 | 2025-04-05 |
| Context window | 131k | 164K |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | - | decoder only |
| License | Proprietary | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Grok 3 Mini | Llama Guard 4 12B | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.3/1M tokens | $0.18/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.5/1M tokens | $0.18/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Grok 3 Mini | Llama Guard 4 12B | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on multimodal input: Grok 3 Mini. 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, Grok 3 Mini lists $0.3/1M input and $0.5/1M output tokens, while Llama Guard 4 12B lists $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama Guard 4 12B lower by about $0.18 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Grok 3 Mini when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Llama Guard 4 12B when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Grok 3 Mini or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Llama Guard 4 12B supports 164K tokens, while Grok 3 Mini supports 131k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Grok 3 Mini or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Llama Guard 4 12B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Grok 3 Mini costs $0.3/1M input and $0.5/1M output tokens. Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Grok 3 Mini or Llama Guard 4 12B open source?
Grok 3 Mini is listed under Proprietary. Llama Guard 4 12B is listed under Open Source. 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 multimodal input, Grok 3 Mini or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Grok 3 Mini 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.
Which is better for structured outputs, Grok 3 Mini or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Both Grok 3 Mini and Llama Guard 4 12B expose structured outputs. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Grok 3 Mini and Llama Guard 4 12B?
Grok 3 Mini is available on OpenRouter. Llama Guard 4 12B is available on NVIDIA NIM, Replicate API, and OpenRouter. 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.