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Code fix · 4 checks · max 600 tokens · benched 2026-09-16

Grok 4.6 vs Grok 4.5 vs Grok 4.20 vs Grok 4.3 on fix an off-by-one in python

xAI models side by side on "Fix an off-by-one in Python": Grok 4.3 scores 10/10; Grok 4.3 is the cheapest answer scoring 8+ at $0.67 per 1,000 runs. Outputs, checks, judge reasons, latency and cost.

The prompt every model received

System

You are a senior engineer. Reply with code only unless asked otherwise.

User

This function should return the arithmetic mean of a non-empty list of numbers, but its result is wrong. Fix the bug with the smallest possible change and return the complete corrected function only, in a Python code block.

def average(nums):
    total = 0
    for n in nums:
        total += n
    return total / (len(nums) - 1)

Rubric for the judge: Returns the full function with the divisor corrected to len(nums) and no other behavioural changes.

Side by side

Every cell is one OpenRouter call at temperature 0 with the prompt's token cap and reasoning effort "low" where the model supports it. Cost is usage × the catalogue rate in models.json. Quality is one judge call to anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 against the prompt's rubric, cached per prompt version.

Grok 4.6

x-ai/grok-4.6

10/10
Latency
539ms
Cost
$0.00152
Per 1,000
$1.52

303 in · 185 out (150 reasoning) · 18 words · checks 4/4

  • contains
  • regex
  • not_contains
  • not_contains
```python
def average(nums):
    total = 0
    for n in nums:
        total += n
    return total / len(nums)
```

Judge: The output correctly fixes the bug by changing the divisor from len(nums) - 1 to len(nums), returns the complete function in a Python code block, and makes no other changes.

Grok 4.5

x-ai/grok-4.5

10/10
Latency
616ms
Cost
$0.00099
Per 1,000
$0.99

303 in · 100 out (65 reasoning) · 18 words · checks 4/4

  • contains
  • regex
  • not_contains
  • not_contains
```python
def average(nums):
    total = 0
    for n in nums:
        total += n
    return total / len(nums)
```

Judge: The output correctly fixes the bug by changing the divisor from len(nums) - 1 to len(nums), returns the complete function in a Python code block, and makes no other changes.

Grok 4.20

x-ai/grok-4.20

10/10
Latency
568ms
Cost
$0.00205
Per 1,000
$2.05

279 in · 734 out (702 reasoning) · 18 words · checks 4/4

  • contains
  • regex
  • not_contains
  • not_contains
```python
def average(nums):
    total = 0
    for n in nums:
        total += n
    return total / len(nums)
```

Judge: The output correctly fixes the bug by changing the divisor from len(nums) - 1 to len(nums), returns the complete function in a Python code block, and makes no other changes.

Grok 4.3

x-ai/grok-4.3

10/10
top judge scorecheapest scoring 8+
Latency
387ms
Cost
$0.00067
Per 1,000
$0.67

285 in · 206 out (174 reasoning) · 18 words · checks 4/4

  • contains
  • regex
  • not_contains
  • not_contains
```python
def average(nums):
    total = 0
    for n in nums:
        total += n
    return total / len(nums)
```

Judge: The output correctly fixes the bug by changing the divisor from len(nums) - 1 to len(nums), returns the complete function in a Python code block, and makes no other changes.

Frequently asked

What does this prompt test?

Code fix: Returns the full function with the divisor corrected to len(nums) and no other behavioural changes. The deterministic checks are contains, regex, not_contains, not_contains.

Which model should I pick for this task?

If the judge's bar of 8/10 is good enough for you, Grok 4.3 at $0.67 per 1,000 runs. If you need the top score, Grok 4.3 at $0.67 per 1,000 runs.

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