Getting-started guide
A chatbot with a live feed — it reads the web and X as you ask, so it can talk about what happened an hour ago.
Current prices: Free, from $8/month · See all plans
Last reviewed 2026-10-14 · for Grok
You sign in at grok.com or the phone app, type a question into a box, and read the answer. If it is about something current, Grok searches the web and X before replying, then shows you the links it used.
Grok is a general-purpose AI assistant from the company that also owns X (formerly Twitter). You can chat, have it write and edit text, explain code, make images in the same box, or talk to it out loud in voice mode, which is included free.
The reason to pick it over other chatbots is its wiring into X: most assistants search the open web, while Grok also reads live X posts — which is the mechanism behind "what are people actually saying about this" and the one source a web-search assistant cannot reach.
The reason to be careful is the same reason: when Grok says "people are saying," it is summarising an argumentative social network, not verified reporting. Its edge is speed and pulse, not accuracy — loud does not mean true.
It costs nothing to start — a real free tier, not a trial that dies in a week. Sign-in is by X account or email, so an X login is the fastest way in.
The free tier works on a usage pool: you get an allowance, spend it, and it refills on its own schedule. The exact numbers change often, so treat the mechanism as the durable fact — you will hit a wall, and the wall lifts by itself.
A few questions and some writing a day costs nothing. You'll feel the limits if you run long research sessions, lean on it daily for work, or make a lot of images — image generation burns an allowance far faster than chatting. Grok is a standalone app (web/iOS/Android). Since 12 October 2026, new customers sign up through The X Subscription — not only as an X Premium+ perk — and existing SuperGrok plans continue for current subscribers unless they switch. Beyond the free plan, The X Subscription runs from Plus at $8/month up through Premium, Super and Ultra, each with more usage. Grok Bot is a separate product and a separate catalog page.
First step: go to grok.com, sign in, and ask it something that happened today.
Grok runs in the cloud: everything you type goes to the company's servers, and by default your conversations help train future versions of the model (the AI "brain" that does the actual thinking). Change that before you paste anything you wouldn't want a stranger to read.
What are the three biggest news stories from the last 12 hours? For each one, give me two sentences of context and link the sources you used.
Why this one: Grok searches X and the open web as you ask, and shows its links. Put the same question to ChatGPT and you get an article write-up, not what the feed is saying.
Explain what people mean when they talk about this and why it is trending. Assume I have no background at all. Tell me who is arguing what, and be clear about which parts are opinion.
Why this one: Grok can read the replies and quote-posts, not just an article about them. Ask another assistant and you get a definition; ask Grok and you get the room.
Make an image of a small bookshop on a rainy street at night, warm light in the window, soft and painterly.
Why this one: Image generation sits in the same chat box, no second tool and no separate signup — and every picture comes out watermarked, worth discovering on something throwaway rather than on real work.
Want the full picture first? See the Grok overview for pricing, the free tier and related tools.
