Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

granite 4.2 30b vs Mercury 2

granite 4.2 30b (IBM Granite) and Mercury 2 (Inception Labs) 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 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, Mercury 2 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#85 vs #86); granite 4.2 30b offers the longer context window (131K vs 128K tokens); and granite 4.2 30b ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose granite 4.2 30b if…

  • you need the longer context window — 131K tokens against 128K.
  • you want to self-host: granite 4.2 30b ships open weights while Mercury 2 is api only.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1396 against 1394.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 23.7 against 21.9.
  • you want the more recently listed model — granite 4.2 30b was listed 7 August 2026, Mercury 2 4 March 2026.

Choose Mercury 2 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #85 against #86 (30.8 vs 30.4 points).
  • you want provider choice — 1 listed API providers against 0.
  • AA Terminal-Bench 2.1 is your yardstick — 27.3% against 26.6%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 17.1% against 11.2%.

granite 4.2 30b vs Mercury 2: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of granite 4.2 30b and Mercury 2
Fieldgranite 4.2 30bIBM GraniteMercury 2Inception Labs
ModelCap Index position#86#85
Index score30.430.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.25
Output price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.75
Context window131K tokens128K tokens
Max output tokens—50K
API providers listed01
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed7 August 20264 March 2026
PublisherIBM GraniteInception Labs

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 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 4.2 30b vs Mercury 2

Public benchmark boards where granite 4.2 30b or Mercury 2 has a published result
Boardgranite 4.2 30bMercury 2Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13961374–141713941373–1415granite 4.2 30b
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis23.7intelligence-index21.9intelligence-indexgranite 4.2 30b
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis26.6%terminal-bench-2.127.3%terminal-bench-2.1Mercury 2
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—70.8%tau2-bench-telecomOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis11.2%humanitys-last-exam17.1%humanitys-last-examMercury 2

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 4.2 30b vs Mercury 2: common questions

Is granite 4.2 30b better than Mercury 2?

Mercury 2 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #85 against #86. 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.

Is granite 4.2 30b cheaper than Mercury 2?

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 4.2 30b or Mercury 2?

granite 4.2 30b has the larger context window: 131K tokens against 128K.

Which is better for coding, granite 4.2 30b or Mercury 2?

Arena coding: granite 4.2 30b 1396, Mercury 2 1394 — granite 4.2 30b leads. AA Terminal-Bench 2.1: granite 4.2 30b 26.6%, Mercury 2 27.3% — Mercury 2 leads.

Are granite 4.2 30b and Mercury 2 open-weight models?

granite 4.2 30b: Open weights. Mercury 2: API only. 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 4.2 30b and Mercury 2?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for granite 4.2 30b and 1 for Mercury 2, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this granite 4.2 30b vs Mercury 2 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 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.

Explore further