# Granite 3.0 8b Instruct vs Granite 3.1 2b Instruct

> Granite 3.1 2b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.6 to 31.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-0-8b-instruct-vs-granite-3-1-2b-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 12

## Summary

- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.0 8b Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Granite 3.1 2b Instruct in 8 categories; 6 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where Granite 3.1 2b Instruct leads 32.9 to 29.1.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | IBM |
| Noometry Index | 31.1 | 32.6 |
| Rank | 266 | 243 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 29.1 (#297)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 32.9 (#255)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1113 | 1149 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 29.3% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 35.4% | — |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 20.0 (#227)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 21.0 (#206)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1092 | 1138 |

## Math

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 30.3 (#211)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 30.6 (#206)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1143 | 1159 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 29.1 (#233)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 30.3 (#223)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1087 | 1131 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 27.4 (#271)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 29.2 (#264)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1037 | 1068 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1063 | 1138 |
| LMArena Russian | 1060 | 1063 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 56.2 (#271)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 58.0 (#259)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1088 | 1116 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 34.0 (#247)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 35.0 (#239)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1122 | 1155 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 31.2 (#280)
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 34.3 (#269)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1096 | 1127 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1071 | 1116 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1063 | 1099 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.0 8b Instruct better than Granite 3.1 2b Instruct?

Granite 3.1 2b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.6 to 31.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 3.0 8b Instruct or Granite 3.1 2b Instruct better for coding?

Granite 3.1 2b Instruct scores higher on coding benchmarks: 32.9 versus 29.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 3.0 8b Instruct and Granite 3.1 2b Instruct share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.0 8b Instruct has 14 scored results on Noometry and Granite 3.1 2b Instruct has 12.