xAI’s grok-code-fast-1 is a super-fast coding AI that writes, fixes, and explains code all by itself. It makes coding much cheaper and easier, helping developers finish their work in less time. Grok-code-fast-1 works right inside popular coding tools, and early users say it lets even new team members do big tasks quickly. Its low cost and high speed are causing more teams to start using it every week. xAI plans to make it even better with new features in the future.
What is xAI’s grok-code-fast-1 and why is it important for developers?
xAI’s grok-code-fast-1 is an autonomous, agentic coding AI that writes, refactors, and explains code independently. It offers unmatched coding efficiency, low cost per token, and seamless integration into IDEs, enabling faster pull requests, improved junior developer productivity, and significant cost savings over other coding models.
xAI just shipped grok-code-fast-1 , a purpose-built agentic AI that writes, refactors and explains code on its own. Here is what early adopters, benchmark data and pricing tables tell us about the model that wants to become the default “driver” inside every IDE.
What arrived
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Model name | grok-code-fast-1 |
| Type | Agentic coding model with built-in tool-calling |
| Speed | 92 tokens / second (measured by PromptLayer) |
| Input price | $0.20 per million tokens |
| Output price | $1.50 per million tokens |
| Context window | 256 k tokens (CometAPI) |
Unlike earlier Grok versions, this one is *not * a chat assistant bolted onto a coding plug-in. It can open a repo, plan a change, run tests, commit and send you a pull request without human interrupts.
Where you can already try it
- GitHub Copilot Pro, Business & Enterprise – rolling out as an opt-in public preview (source)
- Cline & Cursor – selectable model via “bring-your-own-key”
- CometAPI & promptlayer – REST endpoints with 480 requests/minute limits (first-impression post)
xAI is running a launch promo: free usage on Copilot and Cline until 2 September 2025.
Benchmark snapshot
| Benchmark | Score |
|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 70.8 % |
| HumanEval (function-level) | 98 % |
| LiveBench “Code” track | 84 % |
These numbers put it ahead of Claude Sonnet 4 (74.5 %) and close to GPT-5 High (94.6 % on AIME), but at a fraction of the cost per 1 k tasks according to Dev.to analysis.
Cost reality check
| Scenario | Tokens | Cost with grok-code-fast-1 | Cost with GPT-5 High* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generate a 500-line feature | ~40 k in / ~20 k out | *$0.018 * | ~$0.36 |
| Refactor 5 k-file repo | ~200 k in / ~20 k out | *$0.07 * | ~$1.80 |
*Estimated from list prices gathered by aInvest.
What teams report in pilots
- Fast cycle times: average PR turnaround dropped from 6 h to 42 min in an internal Slack pilot (100-dev team).
- Cache hit rate: >90 % on repeated code patterns, keeping latency under 200 ms for 90 %ile requests (PromptLayer).
- Junior dev leverage: newcomers now ship features end-to-end on day 3 instead of week 2, per Cline user survey (200 respondents).
Early adopters & market share
Current U.S. developer-tool market share sits at 0.60 % – still small, but adoption tripled in the last four weeks, driven by startups and cost-sensitive enterprise teams (aInvest report).
How to plug it in today
“`bash
Shell example with xAI REST API
curl https://api.x.ai/v1/chat/completions \
-H “Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY” \
-d ‘{
“model”: “grok-code-fast-1”,
“messages”: [{“role”: “user”, “content”: “Add OAuth2 to this Express app”}],
“stream”: true
}’
“`
Looking ahead
Enterprise pilots are expanding from proof-of-concept to 100-developer squads in Q4 2025, with xAI hinting at multimodal* * and local model** variants in 2026.
What is grok-code-fast-1 and how does it differ from earlier coding assistants?
grok-code-fast-1 is xAI’s first purpose-built, agentic coding model designed to accelerate software development through autonomous, high-speed code generation and project handling. Unlike traditional rule-based or generative-AI coding assistants that respond to prompts, grok-code-fast-1 can plan, iterate, and execute multi-step programming tasks with minimal human oversight. Key differences:
- Speed first: 92 tokens/second output, optimized for “flow-state” development
- Cost-optimized: $0.20 per million input tokens, 23× cheaper than GPT-5 High
- 256 k token context window – can ingest an entire repo in one session
- Visible reasoning traces – developers see the model’s step-by-step thought process
- Agentic workflows – natively supports shell commands, file edits, git operations, and CI integration
How fast is grok-code-fast-1 in real-world coding tasks?
Independent benchmarks and early user reports show:
- Straight-line speed: 92 tokens/second sustained throughput
- End-to-end task completion: 70.8 % on SWE-Bench Verified, outperforming most general-purpose models
- Latency experience: Developers report “instant” response times that keep them in flow state, even on 500 k-line codebases
- Benchmark edge: In head-to-head tests, Grok completes large refactorings 40 % faster than GPT-5 High and 55 % faster than Claude Sonnet 4, thanks to lower per-token latency and aggressive caching (cache hit rate > 90 %)
Which IDEs and platforms already support grok-code-fast-1?
As of August 2025, grok-code-fast-1 is live in three major ecosystems:
- GitHub Copilot – public preview for Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans inside VS Code (opt-in via “bring-your-own-key” or direct API)
- Cline – selectable model in the agentic coding assistant; free until 2 Sept 2025
- CometAPI & xAI API – direct REST and SDK access with up to 480 requests/minute limits
Planned integrations: Cursor, Replit, JetBrains Fleet (Q4 2025), and AWS CodeWhisperer (early 2026).
What does grok-code-fast-1 cost compared to alternatives?
| Service | Input Tokens | Output Tokens | Typical Monthly Cost* |
|---|---|---|---|
| grok-code-fast-1 | $0.20 / M | $1.50 / M | ≈ $25 for 1 M tokens |
| GPT-5 High | $5.00 / M | $15.00 / M | ≈ $575 |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | $3.00 / M | $15.00 / M | ≈ $345 |
| GitHub Copilot Pro | – | – | $10 per seat / month |
*Based on average usage of 500 k input + 500 k output tokens per developer per month.
Will grok-code-fast-1 replace software engineers?
Early industry pilots suggest augmentation, not replacement:
- 75 % of routine coding tasks (boilerplate, test generation, documentation) can be offloaded to the model.
- Net effect: Senior engineers reclaim 4–6 hours per week for architecture and mentoring; junior engineers ramp up 2× faster.
- Job market shift: Demand for “AI orchestrators” and system designers increases, while pure coding roles decline 10–15 % by 2030.
- Enterprise takeaway: Teams adopting grok-code-fast-1 report 30 % faster release cycles and 18 % lower development costs within six months of rollout.
Use these insights to evaluate pilot programs today – free credits remain available through September 2, 2025 via Copilot and Cline integrations.
