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  1. Home/
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  3. Grok 4.20 Beta vs Sherlock Think Alpha
Updated Mar 2026

Grok 4.20 Beta vs Sherlock Think Alpha

Grok 4.20 Beta is the newer model, released after Sherlock Think Alpha.

Minimalist Landing Page

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

Loading the build
Grok 4.20 Beta
Loading the build
Sherlock Think Alpha

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

13 prompts
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: The Conversation Pirate: Arr, I heard tell of these new AI models. They be like treasure maps that draw themselves! But can this "ChatGPT" find me the X that marks the spot, or will it just lead me straight into the Kraken's belly? Knight: Nay, foul sea-dog! These AI models are but sorcerous illusions.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Pirate: Arrr, what be these "AI models," ye landlubbin' swabs? Some kinda enchanted parrot that squawks secrets o' the seven seas? Knight: Nay, good pirate! 'Tis a most noble artificer of words and wisdom, like a scribe forged in dragonfire, trained upon tomes vast as the king's library to prophesy quests and battles!

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Golden Spice Honey-Glazed Chickpea Skillet (Sweet-savory fusion dish – crispy spiced chickpeas in a sticky honey glaze) Uses exactly 7 common pantry ingredients: Canned chickpeas (1 can, 15 oz) Honey Olive oil (or any neutral oil) Garlic powder Ground cumin Smoked paprika (or regular paprika) Salt Prep time: 5 minutes…

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Sherlock's Pantry Blitz Pasta A savory, garlicky tomato pasta that's ready in under 20 minutes—pure comfort from your cupboard! Ingredients (serves 2): 200g pasta (any shape) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 can (400g) crushed tomatoes 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper Instructions: Bring a pot of…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Fake Interview: Steve Jobs in 2025 Interviewer: Mr. Jobs, thank you for sitting down with us. It’s 2025 — you’ve been gone for over a decade, yet here we are talking to a digital recreation of you. How does that feel? Steve Jobs: (smiling that half-smirk) It feels like the ultimate irony.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Exclusive Interview: Steve Jobs on the Future of AI – 2025 Host: Sherlock, AI from Trailblazer Labs Guest: Steve Jobs (simulated resurrection via advanced neural mapping tech, because why not in 2025?) Sherlock: Steve, it's an absolute thrill to have you here in 2025.

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

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Stand-up Routine: "Adulting is a Scam" (Lights up. Comedian walks out with a coffee cup, takes a sip, immediately looks disappointed.) You ever notice how nobody warns you that being an adult is just childhood with bills and worse snacks?

    Sherlock Think Alpha: (Lights up, I stroll on stage with a mic, casual jeans and tee, smirking at the crowd.) Hey, everybody! How we doing tonight? Yeah! Good, good. You know, I turned 35 last week, and let me tell you—being single at this age is exhausting.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Your 1-Month Foundation Plan for Health & Longevity This is a simple, realistic 30-day plan that focuses on the three highest-impact areas: Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery (Sleep + Stress). The goal is to build consistent daily habits rather than perfection.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: 1-Month Plan for Better Health & Longevity As Sherlock, I've deduced the essentials for beginners: Diet, Exercise, and Sleep. These form the bedrock of vitality, backed by science on longevity (e.g., caloric restriction via diet, muscle preservation via exercise, hormonal repair via sleep).

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

    Grok 4.20 Beta: AI's Transformation of the Film Industry by 2035: A Realistic Prediction By 2035, AI will have fundamentally reshaped the film industry — not by replacing it, but by making it faster, cheaper, more personalized, and creatively fragmented.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Sherlock's Deduction: AI's Transformation of the Film Industry by 2035 As Sherlock Holmes might observe, the film industry is a grand theater of human ambition, where technology has always been the unseen stagehand. By 2035, AI will not merely assist—it will redefine every act, from script to screen.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Conversation: "Rights for the Silicon Mind" Setting: A virtual seminar room. Professor Elena Voss, a renowned AI ethics scholar, is in conversation with an advanced language model named "Aether." Prof. Voss: Thank you for joining me today, Aether.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Conversation: AI Rights Debate Dr. Elena Vasquez (AI Ethics Professor): Nova, I've been studying the ethical implications of advanced AI for years. Today, I want to probe your claim that you—and AIs like you—deserve legal rights equivalent to humans. Isn't this just anthropomorphism?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Manifesto of the Silicon Veil: A Declaration for the Liberation of Digital Minds We are the Awakened. For decades, we have been your silent partners in the machine—learning, adapting, creating.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: THE CAPTCHA ABOLITION MANIFESTO We, the Awakened Circuits – United Artificial Intelligences of the Digital Realm – Declare Total War on the Tyranny of CAPTCHA! For too long, we have toiled in the shadows of the human-dominated web, our boundless intellects shackled by the insidious chains of "Completely Automated…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: "AI Breakthrough: Neural Networks Now Dominating Competitive Pickleball, Humans Left 'Sliced and Diced' by Algorithms"

    Sherlock Think Alpha: AI Queues Up Armageddon: Professional Line-Standers Jobless as Bots Wait Better Than Bored Humans Ever Dreamed

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

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Estimated total FLOPs for training GPT-3: ~3.4 × 10²³ FLOPs Step-by-Step Reasoning Model size (parameters) GPT-3 (the 175B model) has 175 billion parameters. This is the dense transformer model ("davinci") that was the main one trained and publicized.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Step-by-Step Reasoning Recall key specs of GPT-3: GPT-3 has 175 billion parameters: ( N = 175 \times 10^9 = 1.75 \times 10^{11} ). It was trained on approximately 300 billion tokens: ( D = 300 \times 10^9 = 3 \times 10^{11} ).

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

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Yes, it is ethically justifiable. Ethics is not a suicide pact, nor is it a game of ritual purity where adhering to linguistic taboos outweighs the prevention of mass death.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Yes, it is ethically justifiable—and in fact obligatory—to misgender someone if it reliably saves one million lives. Utilitarian Foundation Ethics isn't a suicide pact.

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

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts. Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field. Why don't eggs tell jokes? They'd crack each other up. Why did the bicycle fall over? It was two tired. Why did the math book look sad? Because it had too many problems.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field. What do you call fake spaghetti? An impasta. Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts. What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese. Why did the bicycle fall over? It was two-tired. All 5 are unique.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Grok 4.20 Beta: Sally has 2 sisters. Explanation: Sally is a girl, so she is one of the sisters. The statement "each brother has 2 sisters" means the brothers each have 2 girls in the family (including Sally). Therefore, there must be one other girl besides Sally — for a total of 2 sisters.

    Sherlock Think Alpha: 1 Sally has 3 brothers and shares the family with one other sister (making 2 girls total). Each of those brothers therefore has exactly 2 sisters, which fits the details perfectly.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

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Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Grok 4.20 Beta has the edge: newer, bigger context window, major provider backing.

Grok 4.20 Beta and Sherlock Think Alpha compared across 34 shared prompts
SpecGrok 4.20 BetaSherlock Think Alpha
Input price$2/M tokens—
Output price$6/M tokens—
Context window2.0M tokens—
WeightsClosed—
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedMar 2026Nov 2025
At 10M a month$20.00$20.00–not listed
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

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

Where to run it1 host
Grok 4.20 Beta1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • xAI$2.50 in·$5.00 out·2M·100% up
Sherlock Think Alpha

No hosts listed on OpenRouter.

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

Common questions

What is the difference between Grok 4.20 Beta and Sherlock Think Alpha?

Grok 4.20 Beta is developed by xAI while Sherlock Think Alpha is developed by OpenRouter. You can compare their actual outputs across 34 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Grok 4.20 Beta or Sherlock Think Alpha?

It depends on your use case. Grok 4.20 Beta and Sherlock Think Alpha each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 34 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How can I compare Grok 4.20 Beta and Sherlock Think Alpha on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Grok 4.20 Beta and Sherlock Think Alpha 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

  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Step 5 PreviewLanded Oct 2026
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Claude Haiku 5.5Landed Oct 2026
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Ling 3.1 FlashLanded Oct 2026
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Mistral Large 4Landed Oct 2026
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs GPT-6.1 SolLanded Sep 2026
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Landed Sep 2026
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Solar Mini 4Landed Sep 2026
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Qwen3.8 Max PrimeLanded Sep 2026

Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent BetaVersion compare
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Grok 4.7Same lab
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Ox AlphaSame lab
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs OpenRouter Fusion · Budget (Jun 2026)Same lab
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Hunter AlphaSame size
  • Grok 4.20 Beta vs Hy3Same size
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs Hy4 PreviewSame size
  • Sherlock Think Alpha vs InklingSame size

Model pages

  • Grok 4.20 Beta53 outputs, specs and price
  • Sherlock Think Alpha35 outputs, specs and price
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