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Head-to-head comparison

granite 3.3 8b instruct vs Granite 4.2 8B

granite 3.3 8b instruct (IBM Granite) and Granite 4.2 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 15 September 2026

As of 15 September 2026, Granite 4.2 8B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#165 vs #200).

Which should you choose?

Choose granite 3.3 8b instruct if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which granite 3.3 8b instruct leads Granite 4.2 8B for this pair.

Choose Granite 4.2 8B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #165 against #200 (25.0 vs 11.2 points).
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 0.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 9.7% against 4.2%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Granite 4.2 8B was listed 31 August 2026, granite 3.3 8b instruct 9 April 2025.

granite 3.3 8b instruct vs Granite 4.2 8B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of granite 3.3 8b instruct and Granite 4.2 8B
Fieldgranite 3.3 8b instructIBM GraniteGranite 4.2 8BIBM Granite
ModelCap Index position#200#165
Index score11.225.0
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.06
Output price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.25
Context window— tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens—118K
API providers listed02
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed9 April 202531 August 2026
PublisherIBM GraniteIBM Granite

Evidence: publisher-corpus-prior over 194 held-out anchors (23%); opens from measured predecessor ibm-granite/granite-3.1-8b-instruct (77%); shrunk 3.6 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 3.3 8b instruct vs Granite 4.2 8B

Public benchmark boards where granite 3.3 8b instruct or Granite 4.2 8B has a published result
Boardgranite 3.3 8b instructGranite 4.2 8BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—13621340–1384Only one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—11.8intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis10.5%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Granite 3.3 8B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=false—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis4.2%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Granite 3.3 8B (Non-reasoning)":reasoning=false9.7%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Granite 4.2 8B":reasoning=trueGranite 4.2 8B

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 3.3 8b instruct vs Granite 4.2 8B: common questions

Is granite 3.3 8b instruct better than Granite 4.2 8B?

Granite 4.2 8B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 15 September 2026: #165 against #200. 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 granite 3.3 8b instruct cheaper than Granite 4.2 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, granite 3.3 8b instruct or Granite 4.2 8B?

Both publish a —-token context window.

Which is better for coding, granite 3.3 8b instruct or Granite 4.2 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 granite 3.3 8b instruct and Granite 4.2 8B open-weight models?

granite 3.3 8b instruct: Open weights. Granite 4.2 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 granite 3.3 8b instruct and Granite 4.2 8B?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for granite 3.3 8b instruct and 2 for Granite 4.2 8B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this granite 3.3 8b instruct vs Granite 4.2 8B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 15 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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