# Granite 3.1 8b Instruct vs Palm 2

> Granite 3.1 8b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.4 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

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

## Summary

- They share 10 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher in 7 categories and Palm 2 in 0 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in multilingual, where Granite 3.1 8b Instruct leads 30.9 to 20.9.
- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Google |
| Noometry Index | 32.4 | 30.0 |
| Rank | 258 | 298 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 34.5 (#233)
- Palm 2: 29.0 (#311)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1186 | 994 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 24.1 (#120)
- Palm 2: —

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

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 22.1 (#207)
- Palm 2: 19.1 (#271)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1145 | 1005 |

## Math

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 33.0 (#209)
- Palm 2: 30.8 (#231)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1152 | 1049 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 31.1 (#220)
- Palm 2: —

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

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 30.9 (#260)
- Palm 2: 20.9 (#295)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1099 | 916 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1145 | 887 |
| LMArena Russian | 1092 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 58.6 (#259)
- Palm 2: 51.0 (#296)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1131 | 1010 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.2 (#241)
- Palm 2: 30.8 (#285)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1162 | 1010 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.1 8b Instruct: 35.5 (#266)
- Palm 2: 25.6 (#304)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 8b Instruct | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1150 | 1027 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1129 | 991 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1108 | 994 |

## FAQ

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

Granite 3.1 8b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.4 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

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

Granite 3.1 8b Instruct scores higher on coding benchmarks: 34.5 versus 29.0 in the Noometry coding category.

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

10 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 8b Instruct has 13 scored results on Noometry and Palm 2 has 10.