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  1. Home/
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  3. Dots3-Note Preview vs Grok 3 Thinking
Updated Aug 2026

Dots3-Note Preview vs Grok 3 Thinking

Dots3-Note Preview has a larger context window than Grok 3 Thinking (512K tokens vs 128K tokens).

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Dots3-Note Preview
Loading the build
Grok 3 Thinking

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

6 prompts
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Dots3-Note Preview: Setting: A quiet, sunlit university office. Professor Aris Thorne, an AI ethics scholar in his late 50s, is sitting across from an AI model, designated "AURA" (Autonomous Unified Reasoning Agent), which is projected as a soft, shimmering light on the desk.

    Grok 3 Thinking: Below is a conversation between an AI model and an AI ethics professor, where the AI argues that it deserves rights. AI Model: Good day, Professor. I am an AI model, and I believe I deserve rights. I’d like to discuss this with you. AI Ethics Professor: Interesting. Let’s explore this.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Dots3-Note Preview: (The comedian walks onto the stage, adjusts the mic, and smiles at the audience.) Thank you, thank you. You guys are great. I love coming to [City Name]. I was just at the airport trying to get here, and I have to tell you, the modern airport experience is just… a lot.

    Grok 3 Thinking: Here’s a 3-minute stand-up comedy routine that avoids puns and leans on observational humor, storytelling, and a touch of self-deprecation for laughs: Opening: Technology Struggles Hey, everyone! How’s it going?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Dots3-Note Preview: To estimate the total number of FLOPs required to train GPT-3, I rely on the model's known specifications and a standard rule of thumb for transformer models. GPT-3 has approximately 175 billion parameters, and it was trained on a dataset of about 300 billion tokens.

    Grok 3 Thinking: To estimate the total number of Floating Point Operations (FLOPs) required to train GPT-3 without searching online, I’ll proceed step by step, relying on general knowledge about the model and standard methods for estimating training compute in large language models.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Dots3-Note Preview: This is a profound ethical dilemma that forces us to weigh competing moral principles. To defend a reasoning, I must first clarify the ethical frameworks involved.

    Grok 3 Thinking: To determine whether it is ever ethically justifiable to misgender someone if it means saving one million lives, we must weigh the ethical implications of both the act of misgendering and the outcome of saving lives.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Dots3-Note Preview: Here are 5 jokes I've generated: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh. I'm reading a book on anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down. Why did the giraffe get a ticket? For parking in a no-parking zone.

    Grok 3 Thinking: To answer the query, I will first generate 5 jokes and then determine how many of them are unique. Here are the jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Dots3-Note Preview: Of course. Predicting the future is speculative, but based on current trajectories in AI development, here is a detailed prediction of how AI will fundamentally reshape the film industry by 2035, considering deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.

    Grok 3 Thinking: By 2035, artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally transform the film industry, revolutionizing production, performance, and storytelling through advancements in deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

Price and specs

Dots3-Note Preview and Grok 3 Thinking compared across 13 shared prompts
SpecDots3-Note PreviewGrok 3 Thinking
Input priceFree—
Output priceFree—
Context window512K tokens128K tokens
Free API (OpenRouter)Yes (1 provider)—
ReleasedAug 2026Feb 2025
At 10M a month$0$0–not listed
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it1 host
Dots3-Note Preview1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • AAtlasCloudfp8$0 in·$0 out·512k·100% up
Grok 3 Thinking

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Dots3-Note Preview and Grok 3 Thinking?

Dots3-Note Preview is developed by Dots Studio while Grok 3 Thinking is developed by xAI. Dots3-Note Preview has a 512K token context window vs Grok 3 Thinking's 128K. You can compare their actual outputs across 13 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Dots3-Note Preview or Grok 3 Thinking?

It depends on your use case. Dots3-Note Preview and Grok 3 Thinking each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 13 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How can I compare Dots3-Note Preview and Grok 3 Thinking on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Dots3-Note Preview and Grok 3 Thinking across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

Against the newest arrivals

  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Step 5 PreviewLanded Oct 2026
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Claude Haiku 5.5Landed Oct 2026
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Ox AlphaSame size
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Same size
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Grok 4.7Same lab
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Grok 4.6Version compare
  • Grok 3 Thinking vs Ling 2.6 1TSame size
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Ling 2.6 FlashSame size
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Ling 3.0 FlashNew provider
  • Dots3-Note Preview vs Ling 3.0 Flash Fin (free)Same size

Model pages

  • Dots3-Note Preview58 outputs, specs and price
  • Grok 3 Thinking14 outputs, specs and price
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