Cursor Basics
Grok 4.6 in Cursor: Pricing and Best Uses
Grok 4.6 is a frontier model from Cursor and SpaceXAI for complex coding and knowledge work. It improves instruction following and long-running agent work over Grok 4.5, has a 256k context window, and offers Standard and Fast tiers. Standard costs $2 per million input tokens and $6 output; Fast costs $4 and $12.
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What is Grok 4.6 in Cursor?
Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. is a Cursor and SpaceXAI model released on August 12, 2026. Cursor positions it for work that has to survive many steps: researching unfamiliar material, navigating a codebase, using tools, checking results, correcting course, and turning a broad idea into a working application or document.
It follows Grok 4.5 rather than replacing the rest of Cursor's model picker. The documented gains are better instruction following, stronger long-horizon work, and better first passes on visual and interactive projects. Those are useful selection signals, but they are not a promise that one model wins every task. Test it on work whose correct result you can verify.
- Model ID
- grok-4.6
- Provider
- Cursor, developed with SpaceXAI
- Context
- 256k; no separate Max context is published
- Capabilities
- Agent and thinking
- Cursor ratings
- Medium speed, medium cost, frontier intelligence
- Usage pool
- Cursor ModelsCursor's plan and usage pool for models it labels as Cursor Models, kept separate from the third-party Other Models pool. Press Enter for the full definition., with Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5The current Composer release, better at long-running tasks and at judging when a job needs a light touch versus deep work. Press Enter for the full definition.
Cursor model documentation, checked 2026-08-14.
Do not confuse the model with Grok BotAn early AI teammate product from SpaceXAI and Cursor that works across apps on a persistent cloud computer and asks for approval on selected actions; launch materials describe it as beta, but Cursor says Beta Services terms do not apply. Press Enter for the full definition.. Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. is selected inside Cursor's agent surfaces. Grok Bot is a separate early teammate product with a persistent cloud computer, shared account files and logins, routines, and different plan access. BugbotCursor's automated PR reviewer that posts inline findings and can push fix commits from isolated VMs. Press Enter for the full definition. remains the pull request reviewer.
This exact topic is a hands-on Lesson: Mode, Model and Cost Coupling — about 6 minutes, free to read.
How is Grok 4.6 different from Grok 4.5?
Cursor says Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. stays with complex tasks for longer and follows detailed instructions more reliably than Grok 4.5. Its launch post also reports stronger initial results on visual and interactive projects, plus more self-testing and verification during longer runs. That makes the upgrade most relevant when the cost of losing the thread is higher than the cost of one more model turn.
The launch report attributes the change to a longer supplemental training run, a refreshed set of supervised trajectories across effort levels and agent harnesses, and reinforcement learning across general coding, knowledge work, kernel optimization, web development, and computer-aided design. That describes how Cursor trained the behavior. It does not prove the model will outperform an alternative on your own stack.
- Signal
- Long work across tools
- Grok 4.6
- Trained for longer agent trajectories and course correction
- What to verify
- It reruns checks after changing its approach
- Signal
- Detailed constraints
- Grok 4.6
- Cursor reports better instruction following than Grok 4.5
- What to verify
- Every acceptance condition survives the final result
- Signal
- Visual or interactive build
- Grok 4.6
- Cursor reports stronger first passes
- What to verify
- The actual screen, responsive states, and interactions
- Signal
- Short routine edit
- Grok 4.6
- The frontier model may be unnecessary
- What to verify
- Composer 2.5The current Composer release, better at long-running tasks and at judging when a job needs a light touch versus deep work. Press Enter for the full definition. or another lower-cost model can pass the same test
| Signal | Grok 4.6 | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Long work across tools | Trained for longer agent trajectories and course correction | It reruns checks after changing its approach |
| Detailed constraints | Cursor reports better instruction following than Grok 4.5 | Every acceptance condition survives the final result |
| Visual or interactive build | Cursor reports stronger first passes | The actual screen, responsive states, and interactions |
| Short routine edit | The frontier model may be unnecessary | Composer 2.5The current Composer release, better at long-running tasks and at judging when a job needs a light touch versus deep work. Press Enter for the full definition. or another lower-cost model can pass the same test |
Selection guidance based on Cursor's model card and launch report.
Cursor reports frontier benchmark results and says Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. matches GPT-5.6 Sol on one composite intelligence index. That is useful launch evidence, not a replacement for a repository test. A benchmark cannot know your build system, review standard, company policy, or whether the task needs visual judgment rather than code reasoning.
Run the same bounded task in a fresh session on each candidate. Keep the prompt, repository state, checks, and acceptance criteria fixed.
Compare the final diff, test results, elapsed time, token use, and how often a person had to redirect the run.
Which effort level and tools does Grok 4.6 support?
Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. supports low, medium, high, and xhigh effort. High is the documented default on eligible plans. A higher setting gives the model more room to work through a difficult task. It does not change the published per-token rate, but a deeper run can use more tokens and take longer.
- Effort
- Low
- Reasonable starting point
- A small, well-specified change
- Watch for
- Skipping a dependency or verification step
- Effort
- Medium
- Reasonable starting point
- Normal repository work and the fixed Cursor StartAn India-only individual plan centered on Cursor Models, with cloud and mobile access but without Other Models, Auto, Bugbot, Automations or the Agent SDK. Press Enter for the full definition. setting
- Watch for
- A hard task that needs a deeper investigation
- Effort
- High
- Reasonable starting point
- Complex debugging, design, or multi-part implementation
- Watch for
- Paying for depth on routine work
- Effort
- xhigh
- Reasonable starting point
- The hardest long-horizon task with a clear test
- Watch for
- Long runs without intermediate evidence
| Effort | Reasonable starting point | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Low | A small, well-specified change | Skipping a dependency or verification step |
| Medium | Normal repository work and the fixed Cursor StartAn India-only individual plan centered on Cursor Models, with cloud and mobile access but without Other Models, Auto, Bugbot, Automations or the Agent SDK. Press Enter for the full definition. setting | A hard task that needs a deeper investigation |
| High | Complex debugging, design, or multi-part implementation | Paying for depth on routine work |
| xhigh | The hardest long-horizon task with a clear test | Long runs without intermediate evidence |
Effort changes how much work the model does, not the list price per token.
Inside Cursor, the model can search files and the web, read and edit files, run shell commands, control a browser, take screenshots, generate images, fetch rules, and ask clarifying questions. Cursor also documents image reading for vision-capable models. Tool access still follows the product surface, approval mode, sandbox, team policy, and credentials available to the run.
A broader tool list raises the value of a narrow task contract. Name the files or systems in scope, the commands that prove completion, and actions that require approval. The model can inspect its own work, but only your acceptance test tells it what counts as finished in this repository.
How much does Grok 4.6 cost in Cursor?
Cursor publishes Standard and Fast rates per million tokens. Standard costs $2 input, $0.50 cache read, and $6 output. Fast costs $4 input, $1 cache read, and $12 output. The pricing table shows no cache-write rate for either tier, so do not treat the blank cell as a zero-priced feature.
- Variant
- Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. Standard
- Input
- $2
- Cache write
- Not listed
- Cache read
- $0.50
- Output
- $6
- Variant
- Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. Fast
- Input
- $4
- Cache write
- Not listed
- Cache read
- $1
- Output
- $12
| Variant | Input | Cache write | Cache read | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. Standard | $2 | Not listed | $0.50 | $6 |
| Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. Fast | $4 | Not listed | $1 | $12 |
List prices per million tokens, checked 2026-08-14.
Fast doubles every published rate. Cursor makes Fast the default on Pro and higher plans, so cost-sensitive work should confirm the speed tier before it starts. Standard is the stronger default for queued or background work where nobody is waiting on each response. Fast is easier to justify in an active pairing loop.
The launch promotion is temporary. Cursor lists a 50% discount for one week starting August 12, while the launch post describes two times the included usage for the same first week. Keep the normal rates in budgets and treat the promotion as short-lived capacity, not the future cost of the workflow.
Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. draws from the Cursor ModelsCursor's plan and usage pool for models it labels as Cursor Models, kept separate from the third-party Other Models pool. Press Enter for the full definition. pool with Grok 4.5 and Composer 2.5The current Composer release, better at long-running tasks and at judging when a job needs a light touch versus deep work. Press Enter for the full definition., rather than the Other ModelsCursor's pool of supported third-party models from providers such as Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, with separate plan access and usage from Cursor Models. Press Enter for the full definition. pool used by third-party models.
On Teams and Enterprise, models in the Cursor ModelsCursor's plan and usage pool for models it labels as Cursor Models, kept separate from the third-party Other Models pool. Press Enter for the full definition. pool are also exempt from the $0.25 per million Cursor Token Rate that applies to directly selected third-party models and some Auto routes.
Does Cursor Start include Grok 4.6?
Yes. Cursor StartAn India-only individual plan centered on Cursor Models, with cloud and mobile access but without Other Models, Auto, Bugbot, Automations or the Agent SDK. Press Enter for the full definition. is available to developers in India for ₹649 per month, tax inclusive. It includes Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition., Grok 4.5, and Composer 2.5The current Composer release, better at long-running tasks and at judging when a job needs a light touch versus deep work. Press Enter for the full definition. through the Cursor ModelsCursor's plan and usage pool for models it labels as Cursor Models, kept separate from the third-party Other Models pool. Press Enter for the full definition. pool. On Start, both Grok versions run at standard speed with a fixed medium effort level.
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- Standard speed
- Status
- Included
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- Medium effort
- Status
- Fixed
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- Fast mode
- Status
- Not available
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- Low, high, or xhigh selection
- Status
- Not available
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- On-demand usage
- Status
- Not included
- Grok 4.6 control on Start
- Other ModelsCursor's pool of supported third-party models from providers such as Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, with separate plan access and usage from Cursor Models. Press Enter for the full definition. and Auto
- Status
- Not included
| Grok 4.6 control on Start | Status |
|---|---|
| Standard speed | Included |
| Medium effort | Fixed |
| Fast mode | Not available |
| Low, high, or xhigh selection | Not available |
| On-demand usage | Not included |
| Other ModelsCursor's pool of supported third-party models from providers such as Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, with separate plan access and usage from Cursor Models. Press Enter for the full definition. and Auto | Not included |
Cursor Start plan boundaries, checked 2026-08-14.
Start also excludes BugbotCursor's automated PR reviewer that posts inline findings and can push fix commits from isolated VMs. Press Enter for the full definition., Automations, and the Cursor SDK. That does not make its Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. model a smaller preview. It means the plan fixes the speed and effort controls and does not provide paid overflow. Move to Pro or higher when the missing control or product is part of the workflow.
Cursor does not publish a numeric Start allowance. Describe it as generous included usage, which is the language in the current docs, and check the product dashboard for the account's actual remaining balance. Inventing a request count would turn a useful plan guide into a stale promise.
What should a team check before standardizing on Grok 4.6?
Start with the model access policy, usage pool, and privacy mode. Cursor says code is not used for training by Cursor or model providers when Privacy ModeCursor's setting that guarantees code data is not used for training by Cursor or its model providers, and that an admin can enforce org-wide; data-retention terms are a separate, contractual layer. Press Enter for the full definition. is enabled. Its privacy documentation also says most models operate under zero data retention agreements, while naming Claude Fable 5Anthropic's highest-priced generally available Cursor model for long, complex work, with a 30-day retention opt-in for eligible privacy and enterprise accounts. Press Enter for the full definition. as a current retention exception. It does not publish a Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition.-specific retention duration.
Do not extend that general statement into a data-residency promise. Cursor's current list for US-only data residency names Grok 4.5 but not Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition.. If residency is a requirement, verify the live eligible-model list before enabling 4.6 and keep the older allowed model until the new one appears there.
At launch, Cursor made Grok 4.6A Cursor and SpaceXAI frontier model for complex coding and knowledge work; it is a selectable model and is separate from the Grok Bot product. Press Enter for the full definition. available in Cursor and Grok Build. The same announcement lists the SpaceXAI API, OpenRouter, Vercel, and Cloudflare as additional access routes. Availability in those products does not make their billing, tool access, retention, or approval controls interchangeable with Cursor's.
- 1Confirm the model is allowed for the relevant team or group.
- 2Choose Standard or Fast and set an effort level that matches the task.
- 3Run a representative task with fixed acceptance criteria and record the evidence.
- 4Check Privacy ModeCursor's setting that guarantees code data is not used for training by Cursor or its model providers, and that an admin can enforce org-wide; data-retention terms are a separate, contractual layer. Press Enter for the full definition., retention exceptions, and regional eligibility against current documentation.
- 5Review usage after one billing cycle before making it the default everywhere.
A dated rollout record matters because plan contents, promotions, supported regions, and model availability change faster than the model ID. Store what you verified, when you verified it, and the task used for comparison. That gives the next reviewer something firmer than a remembered launch impression.
Frequently asked questions
When did Grok 4.6 launch, and who built it?
Cursor released Grok 4.6 with SpaceXAI on August 12, 2026. The Cursor model ID is grok-4.6; its model card lists a 256k context window, Agent and Thinking capabilities, medium speed and cost, and frontier intelligence.
How much does Grok 4.6 cost?
Standard costs $2 per million input tokens, $0.50 cache read, and $6 output. Fast costs $4 input, $1 cache read, and $12 output. Cursor does not list a cache-write rate.
Which effort levels does Grok 4.6 support?
Low, medium, high, and xhigh. High is the documented default on eligible plans. Cursor Start fixes the model at medium effort and standard speed.
Is Grok 4.6 included with Cursor Start?
Yes. Start includes Grok 4.6 through the Cursor Models pool, at standard speed and fixed medium effort. Fast, selectable effort, Other Models, Auto, on-demand usage, Bugbot, Automations, and the SDK are not included.
Where can I select Grok 4.6 in Cursor?
Select Grok 4.6 in Cursor's coding-agent model picker where your plan supports it. That picker is separate from Grok Bot, the persistent-computer teammate product with different access and security boundaries.
Sources & last verified
- Cursor: Grok 4.6 model documentation
- Cursor: Introducing Grok 4.6
- Cursor: Models and pricing
- Cursor: Privacy and data governance
Cursor ships frequently. Facts verified against primary sources on August 14, 2026.
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