# Granite 4.2 8B vs Palm 2

> Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-8b-vs-palm-2
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 9

## Summary

- They share 9 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 8B scores higher in 6 categories and Palm 2 in 0 categories; 6 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Granite 4.2 8B leads 49.6 to 25.6.
- Granite 4.2 8B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Google |
| Noometry Index | 40.5 | 30.0 |
| Rank | 148 | 298 |
| Context | 131K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.06 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.25 | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 8B: 40.5 (#137)
- Palm 2: 29.0 (#311)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1380 | 994 |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 8B: 26.6 (#131)
- Palm 2: 19.1 (#271)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1329 | 1005 |

## Math

- Granite 4.2 8B: —
- Palm 2: 30.8 (#231)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1049 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 8B: 38.4 (#145)
- Palm 2: —

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1384 | — |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 8B: 44.5 (#178)
- Palm 2: 20.9 (#295)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1302 | 916 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1366 | 887 |
| LMArena Russian | 1285 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 8B: 68.7 (#184)
- Palm 2: 51.0 (#296)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1301 | 1010 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 8B: 40.3 (#159)
- Palm 2: 30.8 (#285)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1324 | 1010 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 8B: 49.6 (#189)
- Palm 2: 25.6 (#304)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Palm 2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1320 | 1027 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1236 | 991 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1301 | 994 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Palm 2?

Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 8B or Palm 2 better for coding?

Granite 4.2 8B scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.5 versus 29.0 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 8B and Palm 2 share?

9 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 8B has 11 scored results on Noometry and Palm 2 has 10.