Model Comparison

Granite 3.3 8B Base vs IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny PreviewWhich is better in 2026?

Granite 3.3 8B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Granite 3.3 8B Base vs IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview — which is better?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (by IBM) and IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview (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.

Granite 3.3 8B Base outperforms in 9 benchmarks (AlpacaEval 2.0, Arena Hard, AttaQ, BIG-Bench Hard, HumanEval, HumanEval+, IFEval, MMLU, PopQA), while IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is better at 3 benchmarks (DROP, GSM8k, TruthfulQA). Granite 3.3 8B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Granite 3.3 8B Base if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 9 of 12 shared benchmarks

Choose IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

12 benchmarks

Granite 3.3 8B Base outperforms in 9 benchmarks (AlpacaEval 2.0, Arena Hard, AttaQ, BIG-Bench Hard, HumanEval, HumanEval+, IFEval, MMLU, PopQA), while IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is better at 3 benchmarks (DROP, GSM8k, TruthfulQA).

Granite 3.3 8B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Mon Jul 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.2B diff

Granite 3.3 8B Base has 1.2B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview, making it 16.7% larger.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
8.2Bparameters
IBM
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
7.0Bparameters
8.2B
Granite 3.3 8B Base
7.0B
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview does not.

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

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Base was released on 2025-04-16, while IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview was released on 2025-05-02.

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is 1 month newer than Granite 3.3 8B Base.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 16, 2025

1.3 years ago

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

May 2, 2025

1.2 years ago

2w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview'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 IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview's cutoff date.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 2024

IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

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Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

IBM
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AlpacaEval 2.0 score (62.7% vs 35.2%)
Higher Arena Hard score (57.6% vs 26.7%)
Higher AttaQ score (88.5% vs 86.1%)
Higher BIG-Bench Hard score (69.1% vs 55.7%)
Higher HumanEval score (89.7% vs 82.4%)
Higher HumanEval+ score (86.1% vs 78.3%)
Higher IFEval score (74.8% vs 63.0%)
Higher MMLU score (63.9% vs 60.4%)
Higher PopQA score (26.2% vs 22.9%)
IBM
Higher DROP score (46.2% vs 36.1%)
Higher GSM8k score (70.1% vs 59.0%)
Higher TruthfulQA score (58.1% vs 52.1%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Base and IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Base
✓ Preferred
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
IBM
IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Base vs IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Base or IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview?

Granite 3.3 8B Base shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Granite 3.3 8B Base is made by IBM and IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview is made by IBM. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Granite 3.3 8B Base compare to IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview in benchmarks?

Granite 3.3 8B Base scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, HellaSwag: 80.1%. IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview scores AttaQ: 86.1%, HumanEval: 82.4%, HumanEval+: 78.3%, GSM8k: 70.1%, IFEval: 63.0%.

What are the main differences between Granite 3.3 8B Base and IBM Granite 4.0 Tiny Preview?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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