GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Grok 3
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
GPT-3.5 Turbo
OpenAIBudget model for simple tasks. Being phased out but still widely used.
| Input | $0.500/M |
| Output | $1.50/M |
| Context | 16K tokens |
| Best For | Simple chatbots, basic text generation |
| Benchmark | 40/100 |
Grok 3
xAIxAI's flagship model. Strong general-purpose capability with real-time knowledge access through X platform integration.
| Input | $3.00/M |
| Output | $15.00/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | General coding, research tasks, current-event-aware applications |
| Benchmark | 70/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Grok 3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 40 | 70 | Grok 3 leads by 30pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 32 | 64 | Grok 3 leads by 32pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 42 | 72 | Grok 3 leads by 30pts |
| HumanEval | 62 | 88 | Grok 3 leads by 26pts |
| BigCodeBench | 26 | 56 | Grok 3 leads by 30pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Grok 3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.06 | $0.55 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $0.49 (89%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $0.48 | $4.05 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $3.57 (88%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $2.38 | $20.25 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $17.88 (88%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.13 | $0.90 | GPT-3.5 Turbo saves $0.77 (86%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-3.5 Turbo | 40 | $0.013/pt | Better value |
| Grok 3 | 70 | $0.043/pt | Higher cost per point |
GPT-3.5 Turbo delivers the best value at $0.013 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
GPT-3.5 Turbo
- + Ultra-cheap
- + Very fast
- - Basic coding only
Grok 3
- + Strong reasoning
- + X integration
- - Newer model
- - Limited ecosystem
Verdict
GPT-3.5 Turbo is cheaper at $0.500/M, but Grok 3 scores higher on benchmarks (70 vs 40).
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo for cost-sensitive projects, Grok 3 when performance matters most.
Compare with Other Models
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Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
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