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Head-to-head comparison

granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 30B A3B

granite 4.2 3b (IBM Granite) and Qwen3 30B A3B (Qwen) 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, Qwen3 30B A3B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#136 vs #138).

Which should you choose?

Choose granite 4.2 3b if…

  • you want the more recently listed model — granite 4.2 3b was listed 7 August 2026, Qwen3 30B A3B 28 April 2025.

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #136 against #138 (27.8 vs 25.6 points).
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 0.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1386 against 1380.

granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 30B A3B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of granite 4.2 3b and Qwen3 30B A3B
Fieldgranite 4.2 3bIBM GraniteQwen3 30B A3BQwen
ModelCap Index position#138#136
Index score25.627.8
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.12
Output price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.50
Context window131K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens—16K
API providers listed02
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed7 August 202628 April 2025
PublisherIBM GraniteQwen

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Public benchmark boards where granite 4.2 3b or Qwen3 30B A3B has a published result
Boardgranite 4.2 3bQwen3 30B A3BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13801358–140213861377–1395Qwen3 30B A3B
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis9.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecified—Only one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis13.9%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Granite 4.2 3B":reasoning=true—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis6.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Granite 4.2 3B":reasoning=true—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.

granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 30B A3B: common questions

Is granite 4.2 3b better than Qwen3 30B A3B?

Qwen3 30B A3B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #136 against #138. 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 4.2 3b cheaper than Qwen3 30B A3B?

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 3b or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Both publish a 131K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, granite 4.2 3b or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Arena coding: granite 4.2 3b 1380, Qwen3 30B A3B 1386 — Qwen3 30B A3B leads.

Are granite 4.2 3b and Qwen3 30B A3B open-weight models?

granite 4.2 3b: Open weights. Qwen3 30B A3B: 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 4.2 3b and Qwen3 30B A3B?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for granite 4.2 3b and 2 for Qwen3 30B A3B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 30B A3B 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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