# Claude 2.1 vs Granite 4.2 3b

> Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 24.9 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/claude-2-1-vs-granite-4-2-3b
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 0

## Summary

- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Granite 4.2 3b leads 35.6 to 15.5.
- Granite 4.2 3b has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | IBM |
| Noometry Index | 24.9 | 39.0 |
| Rank | 340 | 163 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Claude 2.1: 25.8 (#322)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.4 (#146)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| WeirdML | 7.1% | — |
| LMArena Coding | — | 1363 |

## Reasoning

- Claude 2.1: 20.6 (#216)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 25.0 (#136)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | — | 1308 |
| DTBench | 51% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 119.22 | — |
| ForecastBench | 54.2 | — |

## Math

- Claude 2.1: 9.6 (#309)
- Granite 4.2 3b: —

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 1.9% | — |

## Knowledge

- Claude 2.1: 15.5 (#287)
- Granite 4.2 3b: 35.6 (#169)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 33% | — |
| LMArena Expert | — | 1313 |
| MMLU | 73.5% | — |

## Multilingual

- Claude 2.1: —
- Granite 4.2 3b: 42.4 (#193)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | — | 1268 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1268 |
| LMArena Russian | — | 1249 |

## Instruction Following

- Claude 2.1: —
- Granite 4.2 3b: 67.2 (#195)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | — | 1271 |

## Long Context

- Claude 2.1: —
- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.3 (#179)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | — | 1293 |

## Writing & Preference

- Claude 2.1: —
- Granite 4.2 3b: 47.9 (#202)

| Benchmark | Claude 2.1 | Granite 4.2 3b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | — | 1295 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | — | 1215 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | — | 1293 |

## FAQ

### Is Claude 2.1 better than Granite 4.2 3b?

Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 24.9 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Claude 2.1 or Granite 4.2 3b better for coding?

Granite 4.2 3b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.4 versus 25.8 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Claude 2.1 and Granite 4.2 3b share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Claude 2.1 has 7 scored results on Noometry and Granite 4.2 3b has 11.