Beam 1.0 vs IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Beam 1.0 leads the LLM Stats Score 44.6 to 19.3. IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 5.6x cheaper per token.
Reflection AI · IBM · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Beam 1.0 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 44.6 to 19.3, ranking #46 overall.
In the 7 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Beam 1.0 wins 7; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, IBM Granite 4.2 8B is roughly 5.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Beam 1.0 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Beam 1.0
- overall performance matters — it scores 44.6 and ranks #46 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 7 of 7 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026
Choose IBM Granite 4.2 8B
- cost matters — it's about 5.6x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
22 reported for Beam 1.0 · 18 for IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Beam 1.0 outperforms in 7 benchmarks (GPQA, IFBench, SciCode, SWE-bench Multilingual, SWE-Bench Pro, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.1), while IBM Granite 4.2 8B is better at 0 benchmarks.
Beam 1.0 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Beam 1.0 ($0.40/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B ($0.06/1M tokens).
For output processing, Beam 1.0 ($1.20/1M tokens) is 4.8x more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B ($0.25/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Beam 1.0 is more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Beam 1.0 has 493.3B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 8B, making it 6166.3% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Beam 1.0 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to IBM Granite 4.2 8B's 131,072 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 131,072 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Beam 1.0 was released on 2026-10-16, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B was released on 2026-08-25.
Beam 1.0 is 2 months newer than IBM Granite 4.2 8B.
Oct 16, 2026
3 days ago
1mo newerAug 25, 2026
1 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Beam 1.0 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-06-30, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Beam 1.0's training data extends to 2026-06-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date.
Jun 2026
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Provider Availability
Beam 1.0 is available from Together, Reflection AI. IBM Granite 4.2 8B is available from DeepInfra.
Beam 1.0
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Beam 1.0 and IBM Granite 4.2 8B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Beam 1.0 vs IBM Granite 4.2 8B.