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Head-to-head comparison

granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct vs granite 4.2 3b

granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct (IBM Granite) and granite 4.2 3b (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 17 September 2026

As of 17 September 2026, granite 4.2 3b holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#164 vs #206).

Which should you choose?

Choose granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct leads granite 4.2 3b for this pair.

Choose granite 4.2 3b if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #164 against #206 (25.6 vs 7.4 points).
  • you want the more recently listed model — granite 4.2 3b was listed 7 August 2026, granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct 6 December 2024.

granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct vs granite 4.2 3b: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct and granite 4.2 3b
Fieldgranite 3.1 3b a800m instructIBM Granitegranite 4.2 3bIBM Granite
ModelCap Index position#206#164
Index score7.425.6
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Output price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Context window— tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens——
API providers listed00
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed6 December 20247 August 2026
PublisherIBM GraniteIBM Granite

Evidence: publisher-corpus-prior over 197 held-out anchors (7%); launch card against 2 resolved peers on 4 rows (94%); no cross-lab optimism probe available; shrunk 1.2 up toward the measured corpus · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct vs granite 4.2 3b

Public benchmark boards where granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct or granite 4.2 3b has a published result
Boardgranite 3.1 3b a800m instructgranite 4.2 3bLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—13781356–1401Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—9.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—6.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Granite 4.2 3B":reasoning=trueOnly 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.

granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct vs granite 4.2 3b: common questions

Is granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct better than granite 4.2 3b?

granite 4.2 3b ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 September 2026: #164 against #206. 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 do not overlap, but the aggregate Index does not predict performance on every task; compare the relevant benchmark configurations before choosing.

Is granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct cheaper than granite 4.2 3b?

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, granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct or granite 4.2 3b?

Both publish a —-token context window.

Which is better for coding, granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct or granite 4.2 3b?

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 granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct and granite 4.2 3b open-weight models?

granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct: Open weights. granite 4.2 3b: 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 granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct and granite 4.2 3b?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct and 0 for granite 4.2 3b, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this granite 3.1 3b a800m instruct vs granite 4.2 3b comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 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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