Model Comparison

Command R+ vs Granite 3.3 8B BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Command R+ significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Command R+ vs Granite 3.3 8B Base — which is better?

Command R+ (by Cohere) and Granite 3.3 8B Base (by IBM) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Command R+ outperforms in 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MMLU, TruthfulQA, Winogrande), while Granite 3.3 8B Base is better at 0 benchmarks. Command R+ significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Command R+ if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks

Choose Granite 3.3 8B Base if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

Command R+ outperforms in 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HellaSwag, MMLU, TruthfulQA, Winogrande), while Granite 3.3 8B Base is better at 0 benchmarks.

Command R+ significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

95.8B diff

Command R+ has 95.8B more parameters than Granite 3.3 8B Base, making it 1172.9% larger.

Cohere
Command R+
104.0Bparameters
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
8.2Bparameters
104.0B
Command R+
8.2B
Granite 3.3 8B Base

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Command R+ specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Command R+ specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Cohere
Command R+
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas Command R+ does not.

Granite 3.3 8B Base can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Command R+

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Command R+ is licensed under CC BY-NC, while Granite 3.3 8B Base uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Command R+

CC BY-NC

Open weights

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Command R+ was released on 2024-08-30, while Granite 3.3 8B Base was released on 2025-04-16.

Granite 3.3 8B Base is 8 months newer than Command R+.

Command R+

Aug 30, 2024

1.8 years ago

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while Command R+'s cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Granite 3.3 8B Base's training data extends to 2024-04-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Command R+'s cutoff date.

Command R+

—

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Cohere
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher ARC-C score (71.0% vs 50.8%)
Higher GSM8k score (70.7% vs 59.0%)
Higher HellaSwag score (88.6% vs 80.1%)
Higher MMLU score (75.7% vs 63.9%)
Higher TruthfulQA score (56.3% vs 52.1%)
Higher Winogrande score (85.4% vs 74.4%)
IBM
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Cohere
Command R+
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base

FAQ

Common questions about Command R+ vs Granite 3.3 8B Base.

Which is better, Command R+ or Granite 3.3 8B Base?

Command R+ significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Command R+ is made by Cohere and Granite 3.3 8B Base is made by IBM. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Command R+ compare to Granite 3.3 8B Base in benchmarks?

Command R+ scores HellaSwag: 88.6%, Winogrande: 85.4%, MMLU: 75.7%, ARC-C: 71.0%, GSM8k: 70.7%. Granite 3.3 8B Base scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, HellaSwag: 80.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Command R+ and Granite 3.3 8B Base?

Command R+ supports 128K tokens and Granite 3.3 8B Base supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Command R+ and Granite 3.3 8B Base?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (CC BY-NC vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Command R+ and Granite 3.3 8B Base?

Command R+ is developed by Cohere and Granite 3.3 8B Base is developed by IBM.

Related comparisons