Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Granite 3.3 8B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is 1.5x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Granite 3.3 8B Instruct — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct (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.
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 2 benchmarks (DROP, MMLU), while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval). GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
Choose Granite 3.3 8B Instruct if…
- cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 2 benchmarks (DROP, MMLU), while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval).
GPT-3.5 Turbo shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) costs the same as Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 3.0x more expensive than Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Granite 3.3 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 8,192 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct was released on 2025-04-16.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is 25 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.3 years ago
Apr 16, 2025
1.2 years ago
2.1yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has a cutoff of 2024-04-01.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has more recent training data (up to 2024-04-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo (2021-09-30).
Sep 2021
Apr 2024
2.6 yr newerProvider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is available from Replicate.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Granite 3.3 8B Instruct.