AI tools·Chat models·Global
Grok
xAI’s flagship: realtime info, a sharp tone, and coding. Now in Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Grok Build.
Compiled through 2026-09
- Vendor
- xAI
- Started
- 2023
- China availability
- Overseas accessRequires overseas network access
- Pricing tier
- Free tier
- Current flagship
- Grok 4.6 / Grok 3
- Website
- grok.com
Evaluation, Pros & Cons
Editorial score based on public benchmarks and community feedback — not a third-party benchmark result
Key Advantages
- Real-time access to X data stream with unmatched breaking news latency
- Trained on massive Colossus cluster; major leaps in math and agentic coding
Limitations & Caveats
- Direct/unfiltered style; requires X Premium or dedicated subscription
Overview
Grok is xAI’s model, originally tied to realtime X data. Grok 3 (2025) closed much of the quality gap. Grok 4.5 launched Jul 16, 2026 (trained with Cursor; coding and agents), then Grok 4.6 on Aug 12, quickly landing in GitHub Copilot across VS Code, CLI, and cloud agents. Priced below Opus / GPT-5.6 Sol for long coding jobs.
Direction
The path is a native chat app, a developer API, and distribution inside major IDEs. Grok Build targets end-to-end apps and spreadsheet modeling. Realtime search, multimodal, and longer agent jobs are next.
Version history
Aug 2026
LatestGrok 4.6
Aug 12 launch; Copilot on Aug 14.
View details
New capabilities
- Grok 4.6 on 12 August
- Copilot surfaces on 14 August
What got stronger
- Moved from a Cursor option to a GitHub-workflow option
Version notes
4.6 was mostly distribution: Copilot’s VS Code, CLI, Cloud Agent, and more. You did not have to switch editors to use xAI.
Jul 2026
Grok 4.5
Jul 16; coding agents; in Cursor.
View details
New capabilities
- Trained with Cursor; coding agents as the pitch
- Launched 16 July and landed in Cursor’s picker
What got stronger
- Long coding jobs became cost-competitive
Version notes
Grok 4.5 pivoted to engineering: trained with Cursor to work in the editor. Priced below Opus / GPT flagships for long agent runs.
Feb 2025
Grok 3
Reasoning and coding join the frontier.
View details
New capabilities
- Reasoning and coding entered the frontier conversation
- Started getting compared with GPT / Claude on the same stage
What got stronger
- Code and math stopped being obvious weak spots
Version notes
Grok 3 was xAI proving it was more than personality. That made 4.5/4.6 in Cursor and Copilot a credible next step.
Dec 2024
Grok 2
Image gen and better chat.
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New capabilities
- Image generation in the product
- Clearly better chat than v1
What got stronger
- Became a daily assistant, not only an X toy
Version notes
Grok 2 added multimodal and stabler chat. Realtime search stayed the differentiator; quality became good enough for mail and copy.
Mar 2024
Grok open weights
Early open weights for the community.
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New capabilities
- Early open weights for community fine-tunes
What got stronger
- Open weights complemented the closed chat app
Version notes
Open weights put Grok in researcher and local-deploy conversations, even though the product stayed grok.com / X. The goal was inspectability, not then-best chat.
Nov 2023
Grok 1
X Premium preview; realtime tone.
View details
New capabilities
- Realtime feed tied to X
- Sharper, more humorous tone
What got stronger
- Fresher on news and trends than closed-door models
Version notes
Grok 1 launched via X Premium. The pitch was realtime and personality, not then-best reasoning. It set xAI’s “assistant with an attitude” persona.