# Granite 3.0 8b Instruct vs Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent

> Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.5 to 31.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-0-8b-instruct-vs-grok-4-20-multi-agent
- 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 Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent leads 64.1 to 31.2.
- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | xAI |
| Noometry Index | 31.1 | 45.5 |
| Rank | 266 | 62 |
| Context | — | 1M |
| Input $/M | — | $1.25 |
| Output $/M | — | $2.50 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 29.1 (#297)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 42.4 (#91)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1113 | 1458 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 29.3% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 35.4% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: —
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Search | — | 1204 |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 20.0 (#227)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 42.4 (#44)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1092 | 1448 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 89.6% |

## Math

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 30.3 (#211)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 36.6 (#106)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1143 | 1441 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 29.1 (#233)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 39.7 (#116)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1087 | 1445 |

## Multimodal

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: —
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 39.8 (#44)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1259 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 27.4 (#271)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 54.6 (#40)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1037 | 1440 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1063 | 1475 |
| LMArena Russian | 1060 | 1457 |
| LMArena French | — | 1467 |
| LMArena German | — | 1456 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1405 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1416 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1447 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 56.2 (#271)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 75.0 (#80)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1088 | 1420 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 34.0 (#247)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 43.7 (#84)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1122 | 1430 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.0 8b Instruct: 31.2 (#280)
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent: 64.1 (#57)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 8b Instruct | Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1096 | 1450 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1071 | 1435 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1063 | 1451 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.0 8b Instruct better than Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent?

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.5 to 31.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 3.0 8b Instruct or Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent better for coding?

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 29.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 3.0 8b Instruct and Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.0 8b Instruct has 14 scored results on Noometry and Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent has 20.