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Model Comparison

Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Llama 3.2 3B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Verdict: Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct — which is better?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (by IBM) and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (by Meta) 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 2 benchmarks (HellaSwag, MMLU), while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, IFEval). Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Choose Granite 3.3 8B Base if…

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

Choose Llama 3.2 3B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 5 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Granite 3.3 8B Base outperforms in 2 benchmarks (HellaSwag, MMLU), while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, IFEval).

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

5.0B diff

Granite 3.3 8B Base has 5.0B more parameters than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct, making it 154.5% larger.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
8.2Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
3.2Bparameters
8.2B
Granite 3.3 8B Base
3.2B
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.2 3B Instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Llama 3.2 3B Instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.2 3B Instruct 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

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Granite 3.3 8B Base is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct uses Llama 3.2 Community License.

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

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Llama 3.2 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Base was released on 2025-04-16, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25.

Granite 3.3 8B Base is 7 months newer than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 16, 2025

1.3 years ago

6mo newer
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Sep 25, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Base has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct'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 Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's cutoff date.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 2024

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

—

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

IBM
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher HellaSwag score (80.1% vs 69.8%)
Higher MMLU score (63.9% vs 63.4%)
Meta
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher ARC-C score (78.6% vs 50.8%)
Higher GSM8k score (77.7% vs 59.0%)
Higher IFEval score (77.4% vs 74.8%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Base and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Base
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Base or Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Granite 3.3 8B Base is made by IBM and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is made by Meta. 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 Llama 3.2 3B Instruct in benchmarks?

Granite 3.3 8B Base scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, HellaSwag: 80.1%. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct scores NIH/Multi-needle: 84.7%, ARC-C: 78.6%, GSM8k: 77.7%, IFEval: 77.4%, HellaSwag: 69.8%.

What are the context window sizes for Granite 3.3 8B Base and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports an unknown number of tokens and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Granite 3.3 8B Base and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Llama 3.2 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Granite 3.3 8B Base and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Granite 3.3 8B Base is developed by IBM and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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