How to Use Grok: Web, App, X and API Basics (October 2026)

To use Grok, open grok.com in a browser or install the official Grok app for iOS or Android, sign in with an X account or an email address, and type (or speak) your question in the chat box. You can also use Grok inside X, and developers can call it through the xAI API with an API key from the xAI console.

That covers the basics. Below is how each route works, which settings are worth changing on day one, and where Grok’s features differ from plan to plan. Everything here reflects xAI’s documentation as of October 2026. Grok changes quickly, so menu names and limits may have moved by the time you read this.

Where you can use Grok

There are three official ways in, plus the API for developers. According to xAI’s Grok overview, Grok is free to start on the web and in the apps, and paid SuperGrok plans raise limits across every product.

A small note on naming: by autumn 2026 some official pages and news coverage refer to the company as SpaceXAI or SpaceXSI rather than xAI, after it became part of SpaceX. The product is still called Grok, and the official sites are still x.ai and grok.com.

Getting started on the web or in the app

1. Go to grok.com, or install Grok from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Check that the publisher is xAI (or SpaceXAI) so you get the official app.
2. Sign in with your X account or an email address. Signing in saves your history so you can pick up a conversation on another device.
3. Type your question in the message box and press Enter. You can attach files, such as PDFs, for Grok to analyse.
4. Use the model or mode picker next to the box if you want something other than the default (see below).
5. Reopen earlier conversations from your chat history.

The standalone site is the calmer option if you mostly use X for other things. You get your chat history, settings and document uploads without the social feed around them.

Choosing a mode

Grok lets you switch modes for search, reasoning, voice or images. The default is Auto, which picks a model based on how hard your request is. xAI’s Grok 4.1 announcement says new models usually arrive in Auto mode first and can also be chosen by name in the model picker. There is also a Fast mode for quick answers.

In practice:

• Leave it on Auto for everyday questions.
• Pick Fast when speed matters more than depth.
• Choose a named model from the picker when you want consistent behaviour, for example while comparing answers.

Mode names have changed several times, so trust what your own picker shows over any guide, this one included.

What you can do with Grok

According to xAI’s pricing and product pages, the main Grok app covers:

• Chat with reasoning. Grok can work through a problem step by step before it answers.
• Real-time web search. Grok can look things up online, so it is useful for recent events. Still check important facts against the sources it gives you.
• File and PDF analysis. Upload a document and ask for a summary, a comparison or specific details.
• Grok Imagine. Generate images and short videos from a text prompt.
• Voice. Talk to Grok in the mobile app and hear the answer read aloud.
• Memory and Canvas. Grok can remember context across chats, and Canvas gives you a space for longer writing.
• Connectors. On paid plans, Grok can link to services such as your email, files and calendar.

Prompting tips that help

• Be specific about the output. “Summarise this PDF in five bullet points for a manager” works better than “summarise this”.
• Give context once, then iterate. Keep refining in the same chat rather than starting over, so Grok keeps the earlier details.
• Ask for sources on anything factual or recent, then open them yourself.
• Use a named model if Auto gives inconsistent answers to the same kind of task.

Using Grok on X

Inside X, Grok is mostly a tool for understanding posts. The two common methods are:

1. Grok button. When you view a post, tap the Grok icon to ask it to explain the post or add context.
2. Mention Grok in a reply. Replying to a post and tagging Grok with a question gets a public reply from Grok. Remember that anything you post this way is public.

Reports disagree on exactly which X features need X Premium or Premium+, and the X Help Center page on Grok is the place to check for your account. New Grok features on X arrive through app updates, so keep the X app up to date if you don’t see something.

Plans and limits

You can use Grok for free, with usage limits. As of October 2026, xAI’s pricing page lists SuperGrok at $30 a month, with higher limits, the newest models, connectors and access to Grok Bot. It also lists SuperGrok Plus at $100 a month, with much higher usage and 1080p video, and a top SuperGrok Heavy tier. X Premium+ also includes Grok access. Prices and what each tier includes change often, and different official pages don’t always agree, so check the pricing page before you subscribe.

According to xAI, paid plans now share one weekly usage pool across Chat, Imagine, Voice and the Grok Build coding tool, rather than separate daily caps. You can see how much you have left under Settings → Usage.

Privacy settings worth checking

Spend two minutes on these before you share anything sensitive. The steps come from xAI’s consumer FAQ, which has not been updated recently, so the menus may look slightly different now.

1. Opt out of training on grok.com: go to Settings → Data and turn off Improve the Model. Conversations you start after that are not used to train xAI’s models.
2. Use Private Chat for one-off sensitive questions. xAI says Private Chat content is not used for model training.
3. Delete your history on X: go to Privacy and safety → Data sharing and personalization → Grok in your X settings and choose Delete conversation history.

Even with these settings on, don’t paste passwords, financial details or other people’s private information into any chatbot.

Using Grok through the API

If you want Grok in your own app or script, the xAI API docs describe a simple setup:

1. Create an account at the xAI console (console.x.ai) and open the API Keys page.
2. Create a key and store it somewhere safe. The docs read it from an environment variable called XAI_API_KEY.
3. Send requests to https://api.x.ai/v1. The API is compatible with OpenAI’s SDKs, so existing code often only needs the new base URL and key.
4. Pick a model from xAI’s current model list. As of October 2026 the newest flagship is Grok 4.7, which ForkLog reports launched on September 21.

API usage is billed separately from SuperGrok subscriptions. Check the console for current per-token pricing.

The short version

For most people, using Grok means opening grok.com or the app, signing in, leaving the mode on Auto and asking clear, specific questions. Turn off model training in the data settings if that matters to you. Treat Grok’s web answers as a starting point and check them against the sources. When something in this guide doesn’t match your screen, go by the app and xAI’s own docs, because Grok’s features and plans change faster than most.