Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Granite 3.3 8B Base and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct are closely matched at -0.3 and 2.6 on the LLM Stats Score.
IBM · IBM · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Granite 3.3 8B Base and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -0.3 and 2.6.
In the 14 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct wins 14; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Granite 3.3 8B Base
- you are already invested in the IBM ecosystem
Choose Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 14 of 14 exact shared results
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
20 reported for Granite 3.3 8B Base · 14 for Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Granite 3.3 8B Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (DROP, GSM8k, MMLU, TruthfulQA).
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Granite 3.3 8B Base has 0.2B more parameters than Granite 3.3 8B Instruct, making it 2.1% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Granite 3.3 8B Instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Granite 3.3 8B Instruct specifies output context (8,192 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Granite 3.3 8B Base and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
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
Both models were released on 2025-04-16.
They likely represent similar generations of model development.
Apr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
Apr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Both models have the same knowledge cutoff date of 2024-04-01.
They should have similar awareness of historical events and information up to this date.
Apr 2024
Apr 2024
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Base and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Granite 3.3 8B Instruct.