Grok · Mid-tier · 1,000K context window

Grok 4.3 pricing for rag pipeline

$0.0112 per call at 6,000 input / 1,500 output tokens.

Per call

$0.0112

10K calls/mo

$112.5

Cache savings

84% off input

Batch savings

50% off all

Calculate your Grok 4.3 costs

Adjust token counts, volume, and discount toggles to model your rag pipeline spend. Prices verified daily against provider pricing pages.

Configure your usage

6,000
100100K
1,500
5050K
10,000
1001M

Estimated cost

Monthly cost
$113
10,000 calls/month
Cost per call$0.0113
Daily cost$4
Input rate$1.25/MTok
Output rate$2.50/MTok
Analyze your real spend

Quick start

Call Grok 4.3 with the OpenAI Python SDK pointed at api.x.ai:

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["XAI_API_KEY"],
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="grok-4.3",
    max_tokens=1500,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.0112 per call at standard rates
# Input:  $1.25/MTok
# Output: $2.50/MTok

How Grok 4.3 compares on cost

Per-call cost for all models scoring 50+ on rag pipeline benchmarks. Hover for details.

Cheapest viable option: GPT 5.6 Luna at $0.003000/call (73% less, 85/100 quality).

What drives rag pipeline cost

Retrieval-augmented calls are dominated by the retrieved passages, not the question. Retrieving eight chunks instead of three roughly triples input cost for an answer that is often no better, so retrieval tuning is cost tuning. The system prompt and instructions are identical on every call, which makes cache reads the first thing to enable.

For Grok 4.3 specifically, that means output tokens cost 2.0x more than input, at $2.50 vs $1.25 per MTok. At this use case’s 6,000/1,500 token split, output accounts for 33% of the $0.0112 per-call cost.

Complete Grok 4.3 pricing breakdown

Standard token rates

Direction$/MTokTokens per call
Input$1.256,000
Output$2.501,500

Prompt caching: 84% off input tokens

Caching drops input cost from $1.25 to $0.20/MTok. For repeated system prompts, that saves $0.006300 per call.

Batch API: 50% off all tokens

Submit requests asynchronously and receive 50% off all token costs. This works best for offline pipelines where latency requirements are flexible.

Monthly cost projections

Monthly volumeCost per callStandard monthlyCached monthlyYou save with caching
10,000 calls$0.0112$112.5$49.5$63
50,000 calls$0.0112$562.5$247.5$315
100,000 calls$0.0112$1,125$495$630
500,000 calls$0.0112$5,625$2,475$3,150
1,000,000 calls$0.0112$11,250$4,950$6,300

Grok 4.3 quality benchmarks for rag pipeline

Benchmark data for rag pipeline is pending for Grok 4.3. Test against your own evaluation suite before moving to production.

Performance across all task types

Grok 4.3 scores by task type. RAG Pipeline highlighted.

Task typeConfidence scoreRank out of 20

Confidence scores are a third-party benchmark snapshot from week 29 of 2026. This snapshot is 8 weeks old, so treat the scores as directional and validate against your own evals.

Alternative models for rag pipeline

13 models score 80+ on rag pipeline benchmarks, sorted by input rate. Cheapest: GPT 5.6 Luna (73% less, 85/100 quality).

ModelProviderInput $/MTokOutput $/MTokQualityPer callvs Grok
GPT 5.6 LunaGPT$0.20$1.2085/100$0.00300073% cheaper
Gemini 3 FlashGemini$0.50$3.0082/100$0.00750033% cheaper
Claude Haiku 4.5Claude$1.00$5.0086/100$0.013520% more
Gemini 3.5 FlashGemini$1.50$9.0084/100$0.0225100% more
Claude Sonnet 5Claude$2.00$10.0089/100$0.0270140% more
GPT 5.6 TerraGPT$2.00$12.0092/100$0.0300167% more
Gemini 3.1 ProGemini$2.00$12.0087/100$0.0300167% more
GPT 5.4GPT$2.50$15.0091/100$0.0375233% more
Claude Sonnet 4.6Claude$3.00$15.0088/100$0.0405260% more
GPT 5.6 SolGPT$4.00$20.0091/100$0.0540380% more
Claude Opus 4.8Claude$5.00$25.0085/100$0.0675500% more
GPT 5.5GPT$5.00$30.0090/100$0.0750567% more
Claude Fable 5Claude$10.00$50.0088/100$0.13501100% more

About Grok 4.3

Provider

Grok

Tier

Mid-tier

Context

1,000K tokens

Released

Mar 2026

xAI publishes no release date for this model; dated to the March 4.20-generation launch whose pricing and 1M context window it shares. Priced from the live models table, which is what matters for costing traffic.

Other models from Grok

ModelTierInput $/MTokOutput $/MTokContext
Grok 4.6Flagship$2.00$6.00500K
Grok 4.5Flagship$2.00$6.00500K
Grok Build 0.1Fast / Budget$1.00$2.00256K

You can compare Grok 4.3 head-to-head against any other model on our model comparison pages, or track how pricing has changed over time on the pricing history tracker.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Grok 4.3 cost for rag pipeline per API call?

A typical rag pipeline call using Grok 4.3 costs about $0.0112 per call. This estimate uses 6,000 input tokens and 1,500 output tokens at standard rates. Standard rates are $1.25 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens.

Is Grok 4.3 the best model for rag pipeline?

Our benchmark data does not yet include a rag pipeline ranking for Grok 4.3. We recommend testing it against your own evaluation criteria before production usage.

What is the cheapest model for rag pipeline with good quality?

The most affordable model for rag pipeline above 80/100 quality is GPT 5.6 Luna. It comes from GPT at $0.20 per million input tokens. Output costs $1.20 per million tokens with a quality score of 85/100. Switching from Grok 4.3 to GPT 5.6 Luna saves about 73% per API call.

How can I reduce my Grok 4.3 costs for rag pipeline?

Three strategies lower Grok 4.3 costs for this task type effectively. Prompt caching gives a 84% discount on input tokens when reusing system prompts. The batch API gives 50% off all tokens for asynchronous processing workloads. Prompt optimization reduces token counts through more concise instructions and context windows. Combining caching with batching brings your cost from $0.0112 to about $0.000900 per call.

How does Grok 4.3 pricing compare to other Grok models?

Grok has 3 other models alongside Grok 4.3 today: Grok 4.6 at $2.00/$6.00 per million tokens (flagship), Grok 4.5 at $2.00/$6.00 per million tokens (flagship), Grok Build 0.1 at $1.00/$2.00 per million tokens (fast / budget). The right choice depends on whether your rag pipeline workload prioritizes quality, cost, or speed.

What context window does Grok 4.3 support?

Grok 4.3 supports a context window of 1,000K tokens per API call. This sets the maximum combined length of your input prompt and generated response. For rag pipeline, typical calls use 6,000 input and 1,500 output tokens. That is well within this limit, leaving room for longer prompts or multi-turn conversations.

Track what you spend on AI

This calculator estimates costs based on published rates only. Connect your API usage to see where your money goes and which models drive your spend.