Grok 4.6 is here
xAI just launched Grok 4.6, a little over a month after Grok 4.5. I loved Grok 4.5 because it was fast, reliable, and reasonably priced.
This time, as explained by xAI, the focus is on a few things:
- Staying with complex tasks across many steps
- Better self-testing and verification during longer tasks
- Stronger first passes on visual and interactive projects
On xAI's benchmarks, Grok 4.6 High scores 61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, exactly matching GPT-5.6 Sol Max and coming just behind Fable 5 Max at 62. Benchmarks are benchmarks, though, and I am more interested in seeing how it feels during real coding work.
I have used it a little inside Grok Build, and my first impression is that it feels a bit slower than Grok 4.5. It is still fast enough, and the overall quality is good, but the difference is noticeable. I have not used it enough yet to say whether the stronger reasoning and long-running agent capabilities make up for the slower responses.
The normal API pricing is unchanged, but cached input is now more expensive.
| Price per 1M tokens | Grok 4.5 | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $2 | $2 |
| Cached input, short context | $0.30 | $0.50 |
| Cached input, long context (≥200k) | $0.60 | $1.00 |
| Output | $6 | $6 |
Grok 4.6 has a 500k context window, reasoning levels up to xhigh, and a fast variant that costs twice as much. It is available through the xAI API, Grok Build, and Cursor. I am still on the 3-month SuperGrok offer, so I tried it in Grok Build.
Apart from this, xAI is offering 2x the usual included usage in Grok Build and Cursor for the first week.
I also discovered this write-up from Eric at Cursor, and it has some really good suggestions about using Grok 4.6. He has been using it as his daily driver for a few weeks. Here are the tips that stood out.
- skip phrases like "work very hard", they barely change the outcome
- a short prompt plus a clear preference is usually enough, because the model's taste is good
- write a long spec only when you already know exactly what you want
- say what done means, instead of telling it to keep going
- ask it to open the app, click through real user paths, and fix what it finds
- for visual work, tell it to capture a screenshot, list what is wrong, then fix only those things
- do not trust a summary that says it is finished, run it and look
The verification one is the highest leverage. He tried a two-page spreadsheet spec and a three-sentence prompt, and both apps came back almost the same. Adding that one "use it and check" sentence is what actually changed the result.
Honestly, I'm pretty excited about xAI and Grok. I think, it has a lot of potential to win the AI race. I found this post on X that I completely agree with.
If you think, only a few months ago xAI's Grok wasn't used by anyone, at least for coding. But now, everyone is talking about it.
I'm hopeful, but let's see.