# Granite 3.1 8b Instruct vs Nova 2 Lite

> Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 32.4 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-1-8b-instruct-vs-nova-2-lite
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Nova 2 Lite in 9 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Nova 2 Lite leads 53.9 to 35.5.
- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Amazon |
| Noometry Index | 32.4 | 39.7 |
| Rank | 258 | 161 |
| Context | — | 1M |
| Input $/M | — | $0.30 |
| Output $/M | — | $2.50 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 34.5 (#233)
- Nova 2 Lite: 40.7 (#134)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1186 | 1385 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 24.1 (#120)
- Nova 2 Lite: 24.1 (#121)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 27.1% | 27.1% |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 22.1 (#207)
- Nova 2 Lite: 27.5 (#118)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1145 | 1364 |

## Math

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 33.0 (#209)
- Nova 2 Lite: 37.5 (#156)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1152 | 1359 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 31.1 (#220)
- Nova 2 Lite: 43.0 (#94)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1142 | 1358 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | — | 5.1% |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 30.9 (#260)
- Nova 2 Lite: 47.1 (#153)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1099 | 1337 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1145 | 1364 |
| LMArena Russian | 1092 | 1343 |
| LMArena French | — | 1381 |
| LMArena German | — | 1343 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1271 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1284 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1373 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 58.6 (#259)
- Nova 2 Lite: 70.5 (#161)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1131 | 1335 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.2 (#241)
- Nova 2 Lite: 40.6 (#150)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1162 | 1335 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.5 (#266)
- Nova 2 Lite: 53.9 (#154)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1150 | 1362 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1129 | 1291 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1108 | 1338 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.1 8b Instruct better than Nova 2 Lite?

Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 32.4 on the Noometry Index.

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

Nova 2 Lite scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.7 versus 34.5 in the Noometry coding category.

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

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has 13 scored results on Noometry and Nova 2 Lite has 19.