# Granite 4.2 3b vs Qwen3 Coder Next

> Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 33.8 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-3b-vs-qwen3-coder-next
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 0

## Summary

- The widest gap is in coding, where Granite 4.2 3b leads 39.4 to 35.8.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 39.0 | 33.8 |
| Rank | 163 | 229 |
| Context | — | 262K |
| Input $/M | — | $0.12 |
| Output $/M | — | $0.80 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.4 (#146)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: 35.8 (#206)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | — | 32.3% |
| WeirdML | — | 34.4% |
| LMArena Coding | 1363 | — |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 3b: 25.0 (#136)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: 21.7 (#191)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | — | 0% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1308 | — |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 3b: 35.6 (#169)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1313 | — |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 3b: 42.4 (#193)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1268 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1268 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1249 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 3b: 67.2 (#195)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1271 | — |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.3 (#179)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1293 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 3b: 47.9 (#202)
- Qwen3 Coder Next: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Qwen3 Coder Next |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1295 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1215 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1293 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 3b better than Qwen3 Coder Next?

Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 33.8 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 3b or Qwen3 Coder Next better for coding?

Granite 4.2 3b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.4 versus 35.8 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 3b and Qwen3 Coder Next share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 3b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3 Coder Next has 3.