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DeepSeek-V2.5 vs IBM Granite 4.2 3B

IBM Granite 4.2 3B leads the LLM Stats Score 15.6 to 8.4.

DeepSeek · IBM · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 15.6 to 8.4, ranking #213 overall.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek-V2.5

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.14/M input and $0.28/M output

Choose IBM Granite 4.2 3B

  • overall performance matters — it scores 15.6 and ranks #213 on LLM Stats
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek-V2.5
DeepSeek
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
IBM
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
8.4
#265
15.6
#213
Reasoning
8.5
#259
12.0
#234
Coding
6.5
#178
-6.7
#247
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.14 / M
— / M
Output price
$0.28 / M
— / M
Context window
8,192
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
DeepSeek-V2.5
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Math
14.4#210
13.7#216
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

15 reported for DeepSeek-V2.5 · 13 for IBM Granite 4.2 3B

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek-V2.5 and IBM Granite 4.2 3Bdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

233.0B diff

DeepSeek-V2.5 has 233.0B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 3B, making it 7766.7% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V2.5
236.0Bparameters
IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
3.0Bparameters
236.0B
DeepSeek-V2.5
3.0B
IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only DeepSeek-V2.5 specifies input context (8,192 tokens). Only DeepSeek-V2.5 specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V2.5
Input8,192 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mon Aug 31 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V2.5 is licensed under deepseek, while IBM Granite 4.2 3B uses Apache 2.0.

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

DeepSeek-V2.5

deepseek

Open weights

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V2.5 was released on 2024-05-08, while IBM Granite 4.2 3B was released on 2026-08-25.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 28 months newer than DeepSeek-V2.5.

DeepSeek-V2.5

May 8, 2024

2.3 years ago

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Aug 25, 2026

6 days ago

2.3yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V2.5 and IBM Granite 4.2 3B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek-V2.5
✓ Preferred
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V2.5 vs IBM Granite 4.2 3B.

Which is better, DeepSeek-V2.5 or IBM Granite 4.2 3B?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B leads the LLM Stats Score 15.6 to 8.4. DeepSeek-V2.5 is made by DeepSeek and IBM Granite 4.2 3B is made by IBM. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek-V2.5 compare to IBM Granite 4.2 3B in benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V2.5 scores GSM8k: 95.1%, MT-Bench: 90.2%, HumanEval: 89.0%, BBH: 84.3%, AlignBench: 80.4%. IBM Granite 4.2 3B scores AIME 2025: 78.3%, IFBench: 74.3%, LiveCodeBench v6: 69.7%, MMLU-Pro: 67.8%, RULER 64k: 67.5%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek-V2.5 and IBM Granite 4.2 3B?

DeepSeek-V2.5 supports 8K tokens and IBM Granite 4.2 3B 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 DeepSeek-V2.5 and IBM Granite 4.2 3B?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (8.4 vs 15.6), licensing (deepseek vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek-V2.5 and IBM Granite 4.2 3B?

DeepSeek-V2.5 is developed by DeepSeek and IBM Granite 4.2 3B is developed by IBM.

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