What Grok is and what is new in Grok 4

Grok is the AI assistant built by xAI, Elon Musk's AI lab. The product surface covers chat, real-time web and X search, image and short video generation through Grok Imagine, voice conversations, image upload and analysis, and developer access through the xAI API. Grok is positioned against ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, and the headline differentiator is its tight integration with the X timeline, which gives it live social context the others lack.

Grok 4 is the current flagship model. Compared to Grok 3, Grok 4 is stronger at multi-step reasoning, runs tool calls during reasoning rather than only at the end, supports a longer effective context window, generates better code, and ships a Heavy variant that runs multiple reasoning agents in parallel before voting on a final answer. xAI publishes Grok 4 results on benchmarks such as Humanity's Last Exam, AIME, and LMArena — always check the source rather than trusting a screenshot, since rankings change weekly. Even on the free tier, Grok 4 is available in small daily quantities, and that is the right model to start with for any task that needs careful thinking.

How to access Grok — grok.com, X app, mobile, Premium tiers

There are four ways to use Grok in 2026, and they all share the same account and conversation history once you sign in. If you are wondering how to use Grok ai or how to use Grok xai for the first time, this section covers every entry point.

1. The Grok web app at grok.com

Open grok.com in any browser, sign in with X, Google, Apple, or email, and you land in a clean chat interface. The model picker sits at the top of the conversation, the Imagine sidebar lets you generate images and clips without leaving the chat, and your history is synced to your account. This is the cleanest place to drive Grok if you do not want the X timeline next to your work.

2. Grok inside the X app

If you are wondering how to use Grok on X, open the X mobile app or x.com on the web, then tap the Grok icon in the navigation bar (a stylized G). You drop into a chat that is functionally identical to grok.com but tightly wired to X — you can highlight any post and ask Grok to summarize, fact-check, or translate it. This is the fastest path for live social-context queries.

3. The standalone Grok mobile app

xAI ships a dedicated Grok app on iOS and Android. It looks much like grok.com but with a mobile-first layout and faster access to voice and Imagine. If you are heavy on voice mode, this is the smoothest client.

4. X Premium and SuperGrok subscriptions

The free tier is real, but heavier usage and the strongest features sit behind a subscription. Verify current prices at x.com/i/premium before subscribing — xAI adjusts tiers regularly. As of May 2026 the typical line-up is:

• → Free — limited daily Grok 3 and Grok 4 messages, a handful of Imagine generations, short voice sessions, and access through grok.com or the X app.
• → X Basic ($3/mo) — small ad reduction and edit tools, no real Grok upgrade. Skip if you only care about Grok.
• → X Premium ($8/mo) — higher Grok 3 limits, more Grok 4 messages per day, larger Imagine quota, longer voice, and a verified checkmark.
• → X Premium+ ($40/mo) — the strongest X Premium tier, with the highest Grok 4 limits, full Grok Imagine length and resolution, voice priority, ad-free X timeline, and access to spicy mode for verified adult users.
• → SuperGrok ($30/mo) — Grok-only subscription that does not include X Premium perks, useful if you mainly want maximum Grok 4 access without paying for the X side.
• → SuperGrok Heavy ($300/mo) — the high-end developer tier with the largest Grok 4 Heavy reasoning quota, longest context, and earliest access to new xAI models.

Pricing here reflects the standard monthly USD rates published on x.com/i/premium at the time of writing. Annual plans drop the cost roughly 10–15%. Always confirm the live price on the page before you subscribe.

How to use Grok ai for free

Many readers searching for how to use Grok ai for free assume the free tier is throwaway. It is not. xAI gives free users a meaningful daily allowance, and that is enough to learn the product before paying. Here is what the free plan typically includes:

• → A small daily quota of Grok 4 messages, then automatic fallback to Grok 3 for the rest of the day.
• → A handful of Grok Imagine image generations per day at standard resolution.
• → A small daily allowance of Grok Imagine short clips.
• → Short voice mode sessions with the default personality.
• → Real-time web and X search inside chat answers.
• → Image upload and analysis at standard limits.

The catch is that limits reset on a rolling 24-hour window, not a calendar day, and they tighten during peak load. Free is enough to evaluate Grok and run light personal tasks. If you start losing your reasoning quota in the middle of a workday, that is the moment to upgrade.

How to use Grok 4 features

Whether you came here looking for how to use Grok 4 specifically or for the broader picture, the Grok 4 workflow is the most important section in this guide. Grok 4 is where xAI's strongest capabilities live.

Switch to Grok 4 in the model picker

Open the model picker at the top of any Grok chat at grok.com or in the X app and select Grok 4. On paid tiers you also see Grok 4 Heavy, which runs multiple parallel reasoning agents on hard problems and can take 30 seconds to a few minutes to respond. Use Heavy only when you need it — it consumes far more of your daily quota than standard Grok 4.

Lean on tool use during reasoning

Grok 4 will call tools — web search, X search, code execution, and image generation — during a single answer. Rather than asking the model to browse, ask the question naturally and let Grok decide which tools to invoke. A good pattern is "Find the latest verified specs for the new Apple silicon chips, compare with the previous generation, and produce a markdown table with sources." Grok 4 will search, read, compare, and cite without further prompting.

Use the longer context window

Grok 4 supports a long context window — large enough to drop in a transcript, a long PDF, or a meaningful chunk of source code. Paste documents directly into the chat or attach them as files. For very large inputs, ask Grok to summarize each section first, then reason over the summaries.

Pair Grok 4 with web search for fresh facts

Grok's training data has a cut-off, but its real-time web search closes the gap. For news, rankings, prices, and product specs that change frequently, ask Grok 4 to use search and to cite sources. Then verify the citations yourself before publishing — a habit you should keep regardless of model.

Grok ai image upload feature how to use

The Grok ai image upload feature how to use question comes up constantly because the upload affordance moved during the X redesign. Here is the current path. In the chat input, tap the paperclip or plus icon, then choose Image. You can attach a photo from your device or paste from the clipboard. Grok 4 reads the image natively and you can ask questions in the same message — "what plant is this," "transcribe the handwriting," "find the safety issue in this kitchen layout."

A few practical tips. Compress oversized photos before uploading to avoid wait time. Crop to the relevant area when you only care about a portion of the image. Combine an upload with web search by asking "Identify this product and find current pricing." For multi-page documents, upload as a PDF rather than a stack of screenshots — Grok handles PDFs better.

How to use Grok Imagine

If you searched for how to use Grok Imagine, how to use Grok Imagine xAI, how to use Grok Imagine feature, or how to use Grok Imagine feature xai, this is the section. Grok Imagine is xAI's built-in image and short video generator. It runs inside the same Grok account, with no extra app or login.

To open Imagine, click the Imagine entry in the grok.com sidebar or tap the Imagine icon in the bottom toolbar of the Grok tab in the X app. You see a prompt input, a recent generations panel, and a few quick style buttons. Type a description of the image you want, optionally pick a style, and submit. Imagine returns four images by default. Tap any tile to enlarge, regenerate, refine the prompt, animate to short video, or download.

Imagine inherits your subscription tier. Free gives you a few generations per day at standard resolution. Paid tiers raise the daily quota, unlock higher resolutions, longer videos, and additional motion styles, and on Premium+ unlock spicy mode for verified adult users.

Grok imagine image generation how to use

For straight image generation — the question behind both how to use Grok imagine image generation and grok imagine image generation how to use — follow this six-step recipe.

1. Open Imagine. Use the sidebar at grok.com or the Imagine tab in the X app.
2. Write a structured prompt. Describe subject, action, setting, mood, lighting, and style in plain language. Example: "An elderly fisherman mending nets at dawn on a Mediterranean dock, soft golden side light, photorealistic, 35mm lens look."
3. Pick a style. Use a preset such as Photo, Illustration, or Anime, or leave it on Auto.
4. Generate. You get four candidates. Imagine is fast — usually under ten seconds.
5. Refine. Tap the strongest result and choose Refine, Vary, or Edit. Reword the prompt if the composition is off.
6. Download or animate. Save the image at the highest available resolution for your tier, or send it to the Animate flow for a short clip.

Imagine handles people, objects, landscapes, product mocks, and concept art well. It is weaker at hands, dense text inside images, and very specific brand likenesses. For commercial work that needs perfect typography, finish the image in a tool such as Canva or Figma.

Grok imagine video generation how to use 2026

Yes, Imagine generates short video. The grok imagine video generation how to use 2026 question comes up because xAI rolled out Imagine video in stages and not every region got it at the same time. As of May 2026, video is available on grok.com and inside the X and Grok mobile apps for free and paid users, with the strongest controls on Premium+ and SuperGrok.

To generate a clip, generate or select an image in Imagine, tap Animate, then pick a motion style — typically Normal, Fun, or Custom with a free-text motion prompt. Clips run roughly six seconds at standard tiers. Paid tiers unlock higher resolution, longer length, and finer motion control. Audio support is limited and uneven, so for video that needs synchronized speech use a dedicated tool such as Runway, Sora, or HeyGen.

If you are choosing between Grok Imagine, Runway, and Sora for a serious project, Imagine wins on speed and integration, Runway on motion control and editing, and Sora on cinematic length and physics. Read our best AI video generators 2026 guide for a full breakdown.

Grok ai image editing feature how to use

The grok ai image editing feature how to use question is the practical follow-on to Imagine generation. Imagine lets you edit any image you generated or uploaded, with three primary edit modes.

• → Refine. Keep the composition and reroll the style. Useful when the framing is right but the lighting is off.
• → Inpaint or mask edit. Brush over a region and describe what should replace it. Good for swapping objects, removing distractions, or changing clothing.
• → Extend or out-paint. Push the canvas outward to add background, sky, or a new aspect ratio.

For uploaded photos, the edit flow is the same — open the image inside Imagine, mask, prompt, generate. Always download the final asset at the highest resolution your tier allows; downscaling later is lossless, upscaling is not.

Grok voice mode how to use

Both how to use Grok voice mode and grok voice mode how to use point to the same flow. Voice is the fastest way to brainstorm, get hands-free explanations, or run a private dictation session. Setup takes about a minute.

1. Grant microphone access. The first time you tap the mic icon, accept the browser or system prompt.
2. Pick a personality. Open the voice settings and choose from the available voices — typically a default conversational voice plus a handful of personalities. Free users get the default. Paid tiers unlock the full set.
3. Tap the mic to start. Speak naturally. Grok streams a response back as audio and you can interrupt mid-answer to redirect.
4. Switch languages. Grok voice supports multilingual conversations and can translate live. Just say "switch to Spanish" mid-call.
5. End and review. Stop the call when done. The full transcript is saved to your chat history alongside any tool calls Grok made on your behalf.

Voice mode is excellent for note-taking on a walk, debugging a problem out loud, or practicing a language. Quality matches or exceeds ChatGPT Advanced Voice for most users. Free users will hit the daily voice cap quickly — a typical free allowance is roughly 10 minutes per day, while paid tiers raise it well into the hours.

How to use Grok spicy mode

Spicy mode is one of the most-searched Grok features, and the question how to use Grok spicy mode (also written as grok spicy mode how to use or grok ai spicy mode how to use) deserves a careful answer. We will cover what spicy mode is, how to enable it, and where the limits sit.

Spicy mode is a relaxed-content setting available inside Grok Imagine and certain Grok personalities for verified adult users on supported X Premium tiers. With spicy mode on, Imagine and chat allow more suggestive imagery and franker language than the default safe mode. It is not a license for anything goes — illegal content, sexual content involving minors, deepfake non-consensual imagery, hate speech, and clearly identifiable real people in compromising contexts are all blocked at the model level. xAI age-gates the feature, so you must be on a supported tier (typically Premium+ or SuperGrok), be in a region where spicy is enabled, and have completed the platform's adult verification.

To enable spicy mode in Imagine: open Imagine, tap the style or mode selector, and choose Spicy. The first time you select it, Grok prompts you to confirm your age and accept the spicy mode terms. To enable the spicy version of a Grok personality, open the companion picker and select a spicy variant where available. The mode persists per session — Grok will tell you if a request hits a hard rule and falls back to safe mode.

If your goal is mainstream creative work, leave spicy off. The default Imagine model is more reliable for client deliverables, social posts, and anything that will be reviewed by another human. If you are using spicy mode, the same content rules that apply to your X timeline apply to anything you generate — review the X rules before posting.

How to use Grok companion

Grok companions — sometimes called Grok personalities — are pre-built persona variants with their own voice, look, and tone. The how to use Grok companion question is really two questions: where to find them, and how to swap them in mid-conversation.

To find companions, open the persona or companion picker in the Grok chat header on grok.com or in the X or Grok app. You see the default Grok plus a list of named companions, some animated, some serious, some playful. Pick one and the chat instantly reflects that persona's voice and visual style. To switch back, open the picker again and select Default.

Each companion adapts the same Grok 4 model with a different system prompt and voice profile. They do not change Grok's underlying knowledge or limits — they change tone, vocabulary, and personality. For work tasks, stick with Default Grok. For creative role-play, brainstorming, or learning a new subject in an entertaining way, companions can be genuinely useful. Some companions are gated to paid tiers, and a few unlock spicy variants on Premium+.

Prompts that work well with Grok

Grok responds best to direct, slightly informal prompts that name the audience, the format, and any constraints. Here are five patterns that consistently produce better answers.

• → Role + audience + format. "You are a senior tax accountant. Explain estimated quarterly taxes to a freelance designer earning $90k/year. Output as a checklist with US dollar examples."
• → Plan first, then execute. "Outline a five-step plan for migrating my React app to Next.js 15. Wait for my approval before writing any code." Grok 4 honors this protocol cleanly.
• → Use the X timeline as context. "Read the last 50 posts on the X account @LangChainAI and summarize the top three product changes shipped in 2026, with links."
• → Cite or refuse. "Answer with cited sources and direct URLs. If you cannot find a primary source, say so rather than guessing."
• → Specify the visual brief for Imagine. "Subject, action, setting, lighting, lens, style. Aspect ratio 16:9. Negative: extra fingers, watermarks, text overlay."

For a deeper library of patterns including chain-of-thought, role-prompting, and tool-use protocols, browse our prompt library or read the prompt engineering guide.

Grok API basics

If you want to call Grok from your own app, xAI ships a developer API at docs.x.ai. The flow is the same as most modern model APIs.

1. Sign up at x.ai and create a developer account. Add a payment method.
2. Generate an API key from the developer console.
3. Pick a model. The current production set typically includes Grok 4, Grok 4 Heavy, and a smaller fast model for high-volume cheap calls.
4. Send a chat completion request. The endpoint is OpenAI-compatible, so most existing OpenAI client libraries work with the base URL swapped out.
5. Watch your spend. Pricing is per million input and output tokens. Set hard rate and cost limits in the dashboard before going live.

For prototyping, the API is overkill — use grok.com. For production-grade integrations into your own product, the API is the right choice. Image generation, vision, and tool-use endpoints are documented separately at docs.x.ai.

Grok in the X mobile app vs the web app

The X mobile app and grok.com share the same Grok account, conversation history, and feature set, with a few differences worth knowing.

• → Voice mode is smoother on the mobile apps because they handle background audio and Bluetooth headsets more cleanly than browsers.
• → Imagine works on both, but the web app at grok.com is faster to compare four images side by side on a large screen.
• → X timeline integration only exists in the X app — that is where Grok can summarize a post in place or pull the latest replies into context.
• → File and PDF uploads are easier on the web app since drag-and-drop is one motion.
• → Long writing tasks belong on the web. Mobile is for capture, voice, and quick image generation.

Pick the web app for serious work, the X app for live social context, the standalone Grok mobile app for voice on the go, and the API for product integrations.