Command A vs Grok 4.3
Cohere · Global | xAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Command A for enterprise rag and retrieval or strong long-context retrieval accuracy. Pick Grok 4.3 for video understanding from native video input or generating pdf, pptx, and xlsx files directly. Choose Command A if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Grok 4.3 if you want a managed API.
Command A (Cohere) and Grok 4.3 (xAI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Command A is cohere's enterprise-focused model built for retrieval-augmented and grounded workloads. Grok 4.3 is the current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: Grok 4.3 is about 2× cheaper on input ($1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens vs $2.5/$10 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: Grok 4.3 holds 3.9× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (~384 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Grok 4.3 is the newer model by about 14 months (released April 30, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command A | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere (Global) | xAI (US) |
| Released | March 2025 | April 30, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K (~384 pages) | 1M (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $2.5/$10 per 1M tokens | $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, video, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Enterprise RAG and retrieval
Command A
Cohere's enterprise-focused model built for retrieval-augmented and grounded workloads — and its weights are open while Grok 4.3 is API-only.
Strong long-context retrieval accuracy
Command A
Grok 4.3 is comparatively weak here — higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens
Multilingual
Command A
Command A lists multilingual among its strengths; Grok 4.3 does not.
Video understanding from native video input
Grok 4.3
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5 — and it runs cheaper at $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens.
Generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly
Grok 4.3
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5 — and it carries the larger 1M context.
Real-time questions using live X data
Grok 4.3
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5 — and it is the newer of the two.
Lowest cost at scale
Grok 4.3
At $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Grok 4.3
Its 1M window is about 3.9× larger than Command A's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Grok 4.3
At $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens it undercuts Command A, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Grok 4.3
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Command A
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Grok 4.3 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is enterprise rag and retrieval
→ Command A
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is video understanding from native video input
→ Grok 4.3
That is its strongest area.
Command A: where it fits
Cohere's enterprise-focused model built for retrieval-augmented and grounded workloads. Released March 2025 by Cohere, it is built for enterprise RAG and retrieval, strong long-context retrieval accuracy, multilingual, and tool use.
Its trade-offs are real: less consumer presence, and narrower modality support. At $2.5 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Grok 4.3: where it fits
The current xAI flagship: 1M context, native video input, file generation, and live X data, ahead of the still-unreleased Grok 5. Released April 30, 2026 by xAI, it is built for video understanding from native video input, generating PDF, PPTX, and XLSX files directly, real-time questions using live X data, and long-context, multi-agent reasoning.
Its trade-offs: higher context pricing on requests above 200K tokens, and less independent benchmark coverage than OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. At $1.25 in / $2.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Command A gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Grok 4.3 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Command A and Grok 4.3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Command A or Grok 4.3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Command A leans toward enterprise rag and retrieval while Grok 4.3 leans toward video understanding from native video input, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Command A or Grok 4.3?
Command A is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Grok 4.3 is API-metered at $1.25/$2.5 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok 4.3 — 1M vs 256K, about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Command A and Grok 4.3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Command A, Grok 4.3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Command A or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 — released April 30, 2026, about 14 months after Command A.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.