Grok 4 vs ShieldGemma 9B
Grok 4 (2025) and ShieldGemma 9B (2024) are frontier reasoning models from xAI and Google DeepMind. Grok 4 ships a 256k-token context window, while ShieldGemma 9B ships a 8k-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. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Grok 4 fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and ShieldGemma 9B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Grok 4 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Classification |
| Context window | 256k | 8k |
| Cheapest output | $2.50/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 4 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Grok 4 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Grok 4 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Grok 4 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Grok 4 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Local decision data tags ShieldGemma 9B for Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Grok 4
$1,625
Cheapest tracked route/tier: xAI Console
ShieldGemma 9B
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Grok 4 and ShieldGemma 9B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for ShieldGemma 9B and Grok 4; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Grok 4 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-07-09 | 2024-07-01 |
| Context window | 256k | 8k |
| Parameters | — | 9B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Gemma |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open weights |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Grok 4 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.25/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $2.50/1M tokens | - |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Grok 4 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-10. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.