DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 vs IBM Granite 4.2 3B: Specs & Benchmark Comparison

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is developed by DeepSeek, while IBM Granite 4.2 3B comes from IBM. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 was released in July 2026, and IBM Granite 4.2 3B followed a month later in August 2026. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 is the larger model at roughly 304 billion parameters, against 3 billion for IBM Granite 4.2 3B.

We have 9 benchmark results for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 and 13 benchmark results for IBM Granite 4.2 3B, but they were measured on different benchmarks, so there is no like-for-like scoreboard.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is the cheaper API at $0.03 per million input tokens and $0.12 per million output tokens, roughly 5 times cheaper than DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 at $0.14 and $0.28. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 131K for IBM Granite 4.2 3B. On tooling, only DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports function calling and only DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 offers structured output.

CharacteristicDeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731IBM Granite 4.2 3B
CompanyDeepSeekIBM
Release DateJuly 31, 2026August 25, 2026
Parameters304B3B
MultimodalNoNo
Context (input)1.0M131K
Context (output)393K131K
Input Price / 1M$0.14$0.03
Output Price / 1M$0.28$0.12
Average Score57.5%55.7%

Verdict

IBM Granite 4.2 3B leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.

Overall Performance

Both models show comparable average scores: DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 — 0.6, IBM Granite 4.2 3B — 0.6.

API Cost

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 2.8x cheaper: input $0.03/1M vs $0.14/1M tokens.

Context Window

DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports a larger context: 1M vs 131K tokens.

Recency

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is newer: released 8/25/2026 vs 7/31/2026.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for coding — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or IBM Granite 4.2 3B?
Direct comparison on the SWE-Bench benchmark is not available. We recommend reviewing other metrics on the comparison page.
Which model is cheaper — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or IBM Granite 4.2 3B?
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is cheaper for input: $0.03 per 1M tokens vs $0.14.
Which has a larger context window — DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or IBM Granite 4.2 3B?
DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 supports a larger context: 1,048,576 tokens vs 131,072.

The DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 and IBM Granite 4.2 3B comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 or IBM Granite 4.2 3B page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.