Model comparison
Granite 4.2 3b vs Grok 4.1
Grok 4.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.5 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 11 shared benchmarks.
Summary
- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 3b scores higher in 1 category and Grok 4.1 in 6 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Grok 4.1 leads 62.4 to 47.2.
- Granite 4.2 3b has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | xAI |
| Noometry Index | 39.4 | 41.5 |
| Released | — | 2025-11-17 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | — | — |
| Max output | — | — |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | — |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | — |
| Results tracked | 11 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Granite 4.2 3b leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 40.0 (#151), Grok 4.1: 33.7 (#253)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1361 | 1445 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1214 |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Granite 4.2 3b: —, Grok 4.1: 34.1 (#49)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Cybench | — | 39% |
Reasoning Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 26.0 (#138), Grok 4.1: 29.5 (#91)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1306 | 1435 |
Math Not comparable
Granite 4.2 3b: —, Grok 4.1: 38.9 (#120)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1422 |
Knowledge Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 36.3 (#171), Grok 4.1: 39.5 (#133)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1315 | 1417 |
Multilingual Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 42.1 (#198), Grok 4.1: 53.4 (#68)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1268 | 1425 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1269 | 1465 |
| LMArena Russian | 1249 | 1434 |
| LMArena French | — | 1448 |
| LMArena German | — | 1446 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1397 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1407 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1438 |
Instruction Following Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 67.1 (#200), Grok 4.1: 73.8 (#111)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1273 | 1400 |
Long Context Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 39.2 (#185), Grok 4.1: 43.2 (#100)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1291 | 1416 |
Writing & Preference Grok 4.1 leads
Granite 4.2 3b: 47.2 (#212), Grok 4.1: 62.4 (#75)
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Grok 4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1293 | 1437 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1205 | 1411 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1290 | 1437 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Granite 4.2 3b better than Grok 4.1?
Grok 4.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 41.5 to 39.4 on the Noometry Index.
Is Granite 4.2 3b or Grok 4.1 better for coding?
Granite 4.2 3b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.0 versus 33.7 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 3b and Grok 4.1 share?
11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 3b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Grok 4.1 has 19.