Model comparison

Granite 4.2 8B vs Grok Build 0.1

Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 35.8 on the Noometry Index.

Last verified October 10, 2026. 0 shared benchmarks.

Granite 4.2 8B IBM

40.0

Rank #143 Confirmed

Grok Build 0.1 xAI

35.8

Rank #214 Reported

Summary

The widest gap is in reasoning, where Grok Build 0.1 leads 31.3 to 25.5.
Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper at $0.06 / $0.25 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2 for Grok Build 0.1.
Grok Build 0.1 accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 131K.
Granite 4.2 8B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

Granite 4.2 8B and Grok Build 0.1 specifications
	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
Provider	IBM	xAI
Noometry Index	40.0	35.8
Released	—	2026-04-16
Weights	Open	Proprietary
Context window	131K	256K
Max output	118K	256K
Input $ / M tokens	$0.06	$1
Output $ / M tokens	$0.25	$2
Results tracked	11	3

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Category by category

Coding Grok Build 0.1 leads

Granite 4.2 8B: 39.9 (#138), Grok Build 0.1: 42.5 (#90)

Coding benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
SciCode	—	50.2%
LMArena Coding	1379	—

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: —, Grok Build 0.1: 22.5 (#122)

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
GBAEval	—	2.4%

Reasoning Grok Build 0.1 leads

Granite 4.2 8B: 25.5 (#130), Grok Build 0.1: 31.3 (#73)

Reasoning benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
CritPt	—	9.1%
LMArena Hard Prompts	1327	—

Knowledge Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: 37.7 (#144), Grok Build 0.1: —

Knowledge benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
LMArena Expert	1380	—

Multilingual Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: 44.5 (#173), Grok Build 0.1: —

Multilingual benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
LMArena Non-English	1299	—
LMArena Chinese	1361	—
LMArena Russian	1283	—

Instruction Following Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: 68.7 (#183), Grok Build 0.1: —

Instruction Following benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
LMArena Instruction Following	1298	—

Long Context Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: 40.2 (#154), Grok Build 0.1: —

Long Context benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
LMArena Longer Query	1323	—

Writing & Preference Not comparable

Granite 4.2 8B: 49.8 (#183), Grok Build 0.1: —

Writing & Preference benchmarks
Benchmark	Granite 4.2 8B	Grok Build 0.1
LMArena Text	1319	—
LMArena Creative Writing	1238	—
LMArena Multi-Turn	1299	—

Frequently asked questions

Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Grok Build 0.1?

Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 35.8 on the Noometry Index.

Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or Grok Build 0.1?

Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper. It lists at $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens; Grok Build 0.1 lists at $1 and $2.

Is Granite 4.2 8B or Grok Build 0.1 better for coding?

Grok Build 0.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.5 versus 39.9 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

Grok Build 0.1 does, with 256K tokens against 131K.

How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 8B and Grok Build 0.1 share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 8B has 11 scored results on Noometry and Grok Build 0.1 has 3.