Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview vs SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3
A side-by-side comparison of Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview ($1.75 / 1M tokens) and SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3 ($4.38 / 1M tokens) using current USD prices and capabilities from the api14 catalog. Both run through the same OpenAI-compatible API.
Specifications
| Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview | SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | |
| Input | $1.75 / 1M tokens | $4.38 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $10.50 / 1M tokens | $8.75 / 1M tokens |
| Cache read | $0.18 / 1M tokens | $0.70 / 1M tokens |
| Cache write | $0.29 / 1M tokens | - |
| Reasoning | $10.50 / 1M tokens | - |
| Audio input | $3.50 / 1M tokens | - |
| Image | $0.000002 / image | - |
| Web search | $49.00 / 1K searches | $17.50 / 1K searches |
| Context window | 1,048,576 | 1,000,000 |
| Max output | 65,536 | 900,000 |
| Input | text, image, file, audio, video | text, image, file |
| Output | text | text |
| Tool calling | ||
| Structured output | ||
| Reasoning control | ||
| Added | Dec 17, 2025 | Apr 30, 2026 |
Key differences
- Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview is 60% cheaper on input tokens.
- SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3 is 17% cheaper on output tokens.
- A request with 1,000 input and 500 output tokens costs $0.00700 with Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview and $0.00875 with SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3.
In depth
Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview is a text model from Google, listed under the model id google/gemini-3-flash-preview and released by the provider on 2025-12-17. SpaceXAI: Grok 4.3 is a text model from xAI, listed as x-ai/grok-4.3 and released by the provider on 2026-04-30. Both are text-in, text-out chat models that accept tool definitions, structured outputs and reasoning controls, so the choice between them is less about a fundamental category difference and more about fit for a particular workload.
The clearest split is in input modalities. Gemini 3 Flash Preview accepts text, image, file, audio and video, while Grok 4.3 accepts text, image and file. If your pipeline needs to pass audio or video directly to the model, Gemini is the one that can take it. Context length is close enough that it should not drive the decision: Gemini lists 1,048,576 tokens and Grok lists 1,000,000, so both can hold very large inputs and neither has a decisive advantage there. On parameters, Grok adds logprobs and top_logprobs, which Gemini does not list, while both expose include_reasoning, reasoning_effort, response_format, structured_outputs, tools, tool_choice, seed, stop, temperature, top_p and max_tokens. Pricing differs by direction: Gemini is the cheaper input side, Grok is the cheaper output side, so the better deal depends on whether your traffic is input-heavy or output-heavy.
For practical selection, start with the shape of your requests. Long documents, screenshots, PDFs, audio clips or video frames all point to Gemini 3 Flash Preview, since it is the only one of the two that lists audio and video as input modalities. Workloads dominated by generated text, such as long-form drafting, chat replies or code generation where the output is much larger than the prompt, lean toward Grok 4.3 because it is the cheaper output side. If you need token-level probabilities for classification, filtering or confidence checks, Grok is the only one listing logprobs and top_logprobs. If your inputs are mostly text and your outputs are short, the input price advantage of Gemini matters more, and the two are otherwise close enough in context and tooling that either will work.
Calling either model through api14 uses the same OpenAI-compatible surface. You point your client at the api14 base URL, send a chat completions request with your messages, tools and other parameters as usual, and set the model field to google/gemini-3-flash-preview or x-ai/grok-4.3. Switching between them is a one-line change to that model id; the request and response shapes stay the same, and parameters such as temperature, max_tokens, tools and response_format carry over. The live price table on this page shows the current rates for each, so check it before you commit to one for a high-volume job.
There are still cases where the other model wins. If you are generating a lot of output text and your inputs are modest, Grok 4.3 is the better pick on cost even though Gemini handles more input types. Conversely, if your task is mostly reading large text prompts with short answers, Gemini 3 Flash Preview is the cheaper input side and its extra modalities cost you nothing if you do not use them. Neither model is strictly better; match the modality list and the input-to-output ratio of your workload to the model, then switch the model id if your needs change.
Switch with one string
Both models use the same endpoint and request shape. Change the model value from "google/gemini-3-flash-preview" to "x-ai/grok-4.3" and prompts, streaming and tools keep working.
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://api14.com/api/v1",
apiKey: process.env.API14_API_KEY,
});
const result = await client.chat.completions.create({
"model": "x-ai/grok-4.3",
"messages": [
{
"role": "user",
"content": "Explain vector databases in two sentences."
}
]
});
console.log(result.choices[0].message.content);
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