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Head-to-head comparison

Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Granite 4.2 8B (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 19 September 2026

As of 19 September 2026, Qwen3 30B A3B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#160 vs #162); and Granite 4.2 8B is 2× cheaper per output token ($0.25/1M vs $0.50/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose Granite 4.2 8B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.25/1M output tokens against $0.50/1M, about 2× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.06/1M against $0.12/1M.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Granite 4.2 8B was listed 31 August 2026, Qwen3 30B A3B 28 April 2025.

Choose Qwen3 30B A3B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #160 against #162 (28.9 vs 27.9 points).
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1386 against 1362.

Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3 30B A3B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Granite 4.2 8B and Qwen3 30B A3B
FieldGranite 4.2 8BIBM GraniteQwen3 30B A3BQwen
ModelCap Index position#162#160
Index score27.928.9
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.06$0.12
Output price / 1M tokens$0.25$0.50
Context window131K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens118K16K
API providers listed22
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed31 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 8B vs Qwen3 30B A3B

Public benchmark boards where Granite 4.2 8B or Qwen3 30B A3B has a published result
BoardGranite 4.2 8BQwen3 30B A3BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13621340–138413861377–1395Qwen3 30B A3B
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis11.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecified—Only one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis9.7%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Granite 4.2 8B":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 8B vs Qwen3 30B A3B: common questions

Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Qwen3 30B A3B?

Qwen3 30B A3B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 19 September 2026: #160 against #162. 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 8B cheaper than Qwen3 30B A3B?

Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.25/1M against $0.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.06/1M for Granite 4.2 8B and $0.12/1M for Qwen3 30B A3B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.24 for Granite 4.2 8B versus $0.49 for Qwen3 30B A3B. Granite 4.2 8B costs 50.0% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Both publish a 131K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Granite 4.2 8B or Qwen3 30B A3B?

Arena coding: Granite 4.2 8B 1362, Qwen3 30B A3B 1386 — Qwen3 30B A3B leads.

Are Granite 4.2 8B and Qwen3 30B A3B open-weight models?

Granite 4.2 8B: 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 8B and Qwen3 30B A3B?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Granite 4.2 8B 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 8B vs Qwen3 30B A3B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 19 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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