# Granite 3.1 8b Instruct vs Molmo 2 8b

> Molmo 2 8b is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.7 to 31.8 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-1-8b-instruct-vs-molmo-2-8b
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 4

## Summary

- They share 4 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Molmo 2 8b in 4 categories; 4 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Molmo 2 8b leads 49.5 to 35.7.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) |
| Noometry Index | 31.8 | 38.7 |
| Rank | 256 | 170 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 33.9 (#232)
- Molmo 2 8b: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1186 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 23.9 (#113)
- Molmo 2 8b: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 27.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 21.2 (#204)
- Molmo 2 8b: 24.5 (#146)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1146 | 1288 |

## Math

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 30.4 (#210)
- Molmo 2 8b: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1152 | — |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 30.6 (#218)
- Molmo 2 8b: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1142 | — |

## Multimodal

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: —
- Molmo 2 8b: 29.5 (#106)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1081 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 31.1 (#255)
- Molmo 2 8b: 42.8 (#186)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1099 | 1275 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1145 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1092 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 58.9 (#254)
- Molmo 2 8b: 67.2 (#196)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1131 | 1270 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.2 (#236)
- Molmo 2 8b: —

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1162 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.7 (#261)
- Molmo 2 8b: 49.5 (#187)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Molmo 2 8b |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1150 | 1288 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1129 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1108 | — |

## FAQ

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

Molmo 2 8b is the stronger model overall, scoring 38.7 to 31.8 on the Noometry Index.

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

4 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has 13 scored results on Noometry and Molmo 2 8b has 5.