Granite 4.1 8B vs Granite 4.2 3B
At a Glance
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.050Openrouter ↗ · Sep 4, 2026 | $0.030Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.10Openrouter ↗ · Sep 4, 2026 | $0.12Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 131K | 131K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → | Sep 2, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | granite-4.1-8b | Granite 4.2 3B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,292.08100% of row best · rating · granite-4.1-8b; 95% CI [1281.97987405, 1302.17160048]; votes 4023; rank 241 | 1,297.49100% of row best · rating · granite-4.2-3b; 95% CI [1285.72127313, 1309.24903304]; votes 3072; rank 238 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | granite-4.1-8b | Granite 4.2 3B |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | IBM | IBM |
| Family | Granite 4 1 8b | Granite 4 2 |
| Model | granite-4.1-8b | Granite 4.2 3B |
| Version | granite-4.1-8b | Granite 4.2 3B |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-04-29 | 2026-08-25 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 131K | 131K |
| Total parameters | 8.8B | 3.7B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | apache-2.0 | apache-2.0 |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Provider access | Openrouter (Standard) | Deepinfra (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools |
Granite 4.1 8B Capabilities
Granite 4.2 3B Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
| vs |  GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peerstext | |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext | |
Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peerstext |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Granite 4.1 8B vs Granite 4.2 3B FAQs
Is Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Granite 4.1 8B and Granite 4.2 3B, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
Granite 4.1 8B is $0.050 and Granite 4.2 3B is $0.030 per million tokens, so Granite 4.2 3B is cheaper on this metric. Granite 4.1 8B is $0.10 and Granite 4.2 3B is $0.12 per million tokens, so Granite 4.1 8B is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. Granite 4.1 8B is 131K and Granite 4.2 3B is 131K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. Granite 4.1 8B is open weight; Granite 4.2 3B is open weight.
Can Granite 4.1 8B and Granite 4.2 3B understand images?+
Granite 4.1 8B is not documented with image input; Granite 4.2 3B is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Granite 4.1 8B is — and Granite 4.2 3B is —.
Do Granite 4.1 8B and Granite 4.2 3B support reasoning and tool use?+
Granite 4.1 8B: tool calling. Granite 4.2 3B: reasoning and tool calling. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
Granite 4.1 8B has 1 sourced provider route; Granite 4.2 3B has 1, a tie.
Which offers better value, Granite 4.1 8B or Granite 4.2 3B?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.