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Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 3 4B vs granite guardian 4.1 8b

Gemma 3 4B (Google) and granite guardian 4.1 8b (IBM Granite) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, granite guardian 4.1 8b holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#144 vs #146); and granite guardian 4.1 8b ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 3 4B if…

  • you want provider choice — 1 listed API providers against 0.

Choose granite guardian 4.1 8b if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #144 against #146 (20.4 vs 19.3 points).
  • you want to self-host: granite guardian 4.1 8b ships open weights while Gemma 3 4B is gated access.
  • you want the more recently listed model — granite guardian 4.1 8b was listed 16 April 2026, Gemma 3 4B 13 March 2025.

Gemma 3 4B vs granite guardian 4.1 8b: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 3 4B and granite guardian 4.1 8b
FieldGemma 3 4BGooglegranite guardian 4.1 8bIBM Granite
ModelCap Index position#146#144
Index score19.320.4
EvidenceMeasuredInherited
Input price / 1M tokens$0.05Unlisted
Output price / 1M tokens$0.10Unlisted
Context window131K tokens— tokens
Max output tokens16K—
API providers listed10
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, ImageText
First listed13 March 202516 April 2026
PublisherGoogleIBM Granite

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · finetune of ibm-granite/granite-4.1-8b · finetune (100%). Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 3 4B vs granite guardian 4.1 8b

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 3 4B or granite guardian 4.1 8b has a published result
BoardGemma 3 4Bgranite guardian 4.1 8bLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)12741250–1298—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)19.6Prompt—Only one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis0.4%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 3 4B":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis5.0%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 3 4B":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis5.3%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Gemma 3 4B":reasoning=false—Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemma 3 4B vs granite guardian 4.1 8b: common questions

Is Gemma 3 4B better than granite guardian 4.1 8b?

granite guardian 4.1 8b ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #144 against #146. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Gemma 3 4B cheaper than granite guardian 4.1 8b?

At least one of the two has no listed API price on ModelCap right now, so no price comparison is made.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 3 4B or granite guardian 4.1 8b?

Both publish a 131K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 3 4B or granite guardian 4.1 8b?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Gemma 3 4B and granite guardian 4.1 8b open-weight models?

Gemma 3 4B: Gated access. granite guardian 4.1 8b: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemma 3 4B and granite guardian 4.1 8b?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Gemma 3 4B and 0 for granite guardian 4.1 8b, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 3 4B vs granite guardian 4.1 8b comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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