How to use Grok 4 without SuperGrok subscription

Grok 4 was just announced and it looks incredible. So you want to try it out, but are hesitant to shell out $300/year for the subscription just to try it out.

Here are the steps to use it daily without limits, without breaking the bank:

1. Go to OpenRouter, create an account, get an API key and add some credits
2. Open VS Code (insiders recommended) and run the “manage models” command (Ctrl+Shift+P, type manage models):

1. Select OpenRouter:

1. Enter the API key you got from 1:

1. Select xAI: Grok 4:

After these changes, you can now open the GitHub Copilot window by clicking the icon next to the command center:

And the new model will be available for selection in the chat input panel:

Ask and Edit modes work. I couldn’t get Agent mode to work at this point:

Happy groking!