IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Laguna S 2.1: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is developed by IBM, while Laguna S 2.1 comes from Poolside. Laguna S 2.1 was released in July 2026, and IBM Granite 4.2 3B followed a month later in August 2026. Laguna S 2.1 is the larger model at roughly 118 billion parameters, against 3 billion for IBM Granite 4.2 3B.
We have 13 benchmark results for IBM Granite 4.2 3B and 6 benchmark results for Laguna S 2.1, 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 3 times cheaper than Laguna S 2.1 at $0.10 and $0.20. Laguna S 2.1 takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 131K for IBM Granite 4.2 3B.
| Characteristic | IBM Granite 4.2 3B | Laguna S 2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Company | IBM | Poolside |
| Release Date | August 25, 2026 | July 21, 2026 |
| Parameters | 3B | 118B |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Context (input) | 131K | 1.0M |
| Context (output) | 131K | — |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.03 | $0.10 |
| Output Price / 1M | $0.12 | $0.20 |
| Average Score | 55.7% | 57.4% |
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, Laguna S 2.1 — 0.6.
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 2.0x cheaper: input $0.03/1M vs $0.10/1M tokens.
Laguna S 2.1 supports a larger context: 1M vs 131K tokens.
IBM Granite 4.2 3B is newer: released 8/25/2026 vs 7/21/2026.
More About These Models
Related Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Laguna S 2.1?
Which model is cheaper — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Laguna S 2.1?
Which has a larger context window — IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Laguna S 2.1?
The IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Laguna S 2.1 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 Laguna S 2.1 page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.