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Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs IBM Granite 4.2 8B

IBM Granite 4.2 8B leads the LLM Stats Score 19.6 to 10.4. IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 1.6x cheaper per token.

Google · IBM · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 19.6 to 10.4, ranking #217 overall.

In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, IBM Granite 4.2 8B wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, IBM Granite 4.2 8B is roughly 1.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 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 Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window

Choose IBM Granite 4.2 8B

  • overall performance matters — it scores 19.6 and ranks #217 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
  • cost matters — it's about 1.6x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
Google
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
IBM
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
10.4
#280
19.6
#217
Reasoning
10.9
#274
17.3
#225
Coding
-2.9
#266
2.1
#240
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 3
2 of 3
Input price
$0.10 / M
$0.06 / M
Output price
$0.40 / M
$0.25 / M
Context window
1,048,576
131,072

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Math
4.0#292
21.1#155
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite · 18 for IBM Granite 4.2 8B

3 shared

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while IBM Granite 4.2 8B is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, SWE-Bench Verified).

IBM Granite 4.2 8B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Thu Oct 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

IBM Granite 4.2 8B costs less

For input processing, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite ($0.10/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B ($0.06/1M tokens).

For output processing, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite ($0.40/1M tokens) is 1.6x more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B ($0.25/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 8B.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Oct 08 2026 • llm-stats.com
Google
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerGoogle
IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Input tokens$0.06
Output tokens$0.25
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to IBM Granite 4.2 8B's 131,072 tokens. IBM Granite 4.2 8B can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is limited to 65,536 tokens.

Google
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Thu Oct 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas IBM Granite 4.2 8B does not.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B uses Apache 2.0.

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

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Open weights

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite was released on 2025-06-17, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B was released on 2026-08-25.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 14 months newer than Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Jun 17, 2025

1.3 years ago

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Aug 25, 2026

1 months ago

1.2yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-01, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite's training data extends to 2025-01-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Jan 2025

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

—

Provider Availability

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is available from Google. IBM Granite 4.2 8B is available from DeepInfra.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.06/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.25/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and IBM Granite 4.2 8B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
✓ Preferred
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs IBM Granite 4.2 8B.

Which is better, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or IBM Granite 4.2 8B?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B leads the LLM Stats Score 19.6 to 10.4. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is made by Google and IBM Granite 4.2 8B is made by IBM. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite compare to IBM Granite 4.2 8B in benchmarks?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite scores FACTS Grounding: 84.1%, Global-MMLU-Lite: 81.1%, MMMU: 72.9%, GPQA: 64.6%, Vibe-Eval: 51.3%. IBM Granite 4.2 8B scores AIME 2025: 86.7%, RULER 64k: 81.0%, IFBench: 79.3%, HMMT25: 78.3%, MMLU-Pro: 74.0%.

Is Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite cheaper than IBM Granite 4.2 8B?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10/M input and $0.40/M output via google. IBM Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06/M input and $0.25/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and IBM Granite 4.2 8B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite supports 1.0M tokens and IBM Granite 4.2 8B supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and IBM Granite 4.2 8B?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (10.4 vs 19.6), context window (1.0M vs 131K), input pricing ($0.10 vs $0.06/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and IBM Granite 4.2 8B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is developed by Google and IBM Granite 4.2 8B is developed by IBM.

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