# Granite 4.2 3b vs Yi-Lightning

> Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.4 to 37.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-3b-vs-yi-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 11

## Summary

- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 3b scores higher in 3 categories and Yi-Lightning in 4 categories; 2 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in coding, where Granite 4.2 3b leads 40.0 to 27.4.
- Granite 4.2 3b has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | 01.AI |
| Noometry Index | 39.4 | 37.1 |
| Rank | 169 | 209 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 3b: 40.0 (#151)
- Yi-Lightning: 27.4 (#320)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1361 | 1312 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 12.9% |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 3b: 26.0 (#138)
- Yi-Lightning: 25.9 (#139)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1306 | 1302 |

## Math

- Granite 4.2 3b: —
- Yi-Lightning: 36.2 (#172)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1300 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 3b: 36.3 (#171)
- Yi-Lightning: 35.4 (#185)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1315 | 1286 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 3b: 42.1 (#198)
- Yi-Lightning: 42.2 (#196)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1268 | 1269 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1269 | 1320 |
| LMArena Russian | 1249 | 1255 |
| LMArena French | — | 1305 |
| LMArena German | — | 1267 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1228 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1192 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1315 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 3b: 67.1 (#200)
- Yi-Lightning: 67.4 (#196)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1273 | 1278 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 3b: 39.2 (#185)
- Yi-Lightning: 39.4 (#181)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1291 | 1297 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 3b: 47.2 (#212)
- Yi-Lightning: 50.2 (#184)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 3b | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1293 | 1302 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1205 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1290 | 1311 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 3b better than Yi-Lightning?

Granite 4.2 3b is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.4 to 37.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 3b or Yi-Lightning better for coding?

Granite 4.2 3b scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.0 versus 27.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 3b and Yi-Lightning share?

11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 3b has 11 scored results on Noometry and Yi-Lightning has 18.