Grok Code Fast 1 Achieves Top Ranking on OpenRouter, Fueled by Kilo Code's 76.5 Billion Token Surge

xAI's Grok Code Fast 1 has rapidly ascended to the number one position on OpenRouter, a prominent platform for AI model access, demonstrating significant traction in the AI coding landscape. This swift rise is largely attributed to its integration with applications like Kilo Code, which has reportedly driven substantial usage of the new model. As noted by Ashutosh Shrivastava in a recent tweet, "Grok Code just hit number 1 on OpenRouter. Kilo Code is taking over most of the actual application usage according to OpenRouter. @elonmusk xAI team is moving fast.

Launched by xAI on August 28, 2025, Grok Code Fast 1 is engineered as a speedy and economical reasoning model specifically designed for agentic coding workflows. It boasts a substantial 256,000 token context window, supports function calling, and provides visible reasoning traces, allowing developers enhanced control and efficiency. The model is positioned to excel in tasks such as IDE integrations, large-codebase reasoning, and automated code generation.

A key factor in Grok Code Fast 1's rapid adoption is its partnership with Kilo Code, an AI coding agent for VS Code. Kilo Code announced free, unlimited access to Grok Code Fast 1 within its extension, leading to an "unprecedented token usage" of 76.5 billion tokens by August 29, just three days post-launch. This collaboration has propelled Kilo Code to become the top public app by token usage on OpenRouter, underscoring its role in distributing xAI's latest offering.

Grok Code Fast 1 is priced competitively at $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens, making it one of the most cost-effective models in its category. While some early users have praised its speed—processing up to 160 tokens per second—and affordability for simpler tasks like refactoring or codebase scanning, others have noted mixed results regarding its accuracy for more complex programming challenges.

The rapid deployment and adoption of Grok Code Fast 1 highlight xAI's aggressive strategy in the artificial intelligence domain. The company, founded by Elon Musk, appears committed to delivering specialized, high-performance AI tools that can quickly gain market share through strategic partnerships and competitive pricing, signaling a dynamic shift in the developer tool ecosystem.