IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Grok 4.5: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is developed by IBM, while Grok 4.5 comes from xAI. Grok 4.5 was released in July 2026, and IBM Granite 4.2 3B followed a month later in August 2026. IBM Granite 4.2 3B has a published size of about 3 billion parameters; xAI has not disclosed the parameter count of Grok 4.5.
We have 13 benchmark results for IBM Granite 4.2 3B and 15 benchmark results for Grok 4.5, but they overlap on a single test: GPQA, where Grok 4.5 scores 93.0% against 54.8%.
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is the cheaper API at $0.03 per million input tokens and $0.12 per million output tokens, roughly 67 times cheaper than Grok 4.5 at $2 and $6. Grok 4.5 takes the larger context window at 500K tokens, compared with 131K for IBM Granite 4.2 3B. IBM Granite 4.2 3B accepts text as input, while Grok 4.5 accepts text and images. On tooling, only Grok 4.5 supports function calling and only Grok 4.5 offers structured output.
| Characteristic | IBM Granite 4.2 3B | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Company | IBM | xAI |
| Release Date | August 25, 2026 | July 16, 2026 |
| Parameters | 3B | — |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Context (input) | 131K | 500K |
| Context (output) | 131K | — |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.03 | $2.00 |
| Output Price / 1M | $0.12 | $6.00 |
| Average Score | 55.7% | 52.9% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 54.8% | 93.0% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
IBM Granite 4.2 3B leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.
Both models show comparable average scores: IBM Granite 4.2 3B — 0.6, Grok 4.5 — 0.5.
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 53.3x cheaper: input $0.03/1M vs $2.00/1M tokens.
Grok 4.5 supports a larger context: 500K vs 131K tokens.
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is newer: released 8/25/2026 vs 7/16/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Grok 4.5?
Which model is cheaper — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Grok 4.5?
Which has a larger context window — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Grok 4.5?
The IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Grok 4.5 comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Grok 4.5 page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.