Grok 4.3 vs Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct
Grok 4.3 (2026) and Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct (2025) are frontier reasoning models from xAI and AI at Meta. Grok 4.3 ships a 1m-token context window, while Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct ships a 10m-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct fits 10x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Grok 4.3 for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Grok 4.3 | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 1m | 10m |
| Cheapest output | $2.50/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 5 tracked | 12 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Grok 4.3 uniquely exposes Reasoning and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Grok 4.3 for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Grok 4.3
$1,625
Cheapest tracked route/tier: xAI Console
Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct
$139
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $1,486. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct is $2.20/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning and JSON / JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, Microsoft Foundry, and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Grok 4.3 is $2.20/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Grok 4.3 adds Reasoning and JSON / JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-05-06 | 2025-04-05 |
| Context window | 1m | 10m |
| Parameters | ~0.5T | 109B (17B active) |
| Architecture | - | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Proprietary | Llama 4 Community |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open weights |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-11 | 2024-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Grok 4.3 | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
| $0.08/1M tokens |
| Output price |
| $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Grok 4.3 | Llama 4 Scout 17B-16E Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-10. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.