Model Comparison

Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Phi-4-multimodal-instructWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct — which is better?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (by IBM) and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (by Microsoft) 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.

Choose Granite 3.3 8B Base if…

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

Choose Phi-4-multimodal-instruct if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instructdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

2.6B diff

Granite 3.3 8B Base has 2.6B more parameters than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct, making it 45.9% larger.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
8.2Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
5.6Bparameters
8.2B
Granite 3.3 8B Base
5.6B
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Phi-4-multimodal-instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Granite 3.3 8B Base is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct uses MIT.

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

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Base was released on 2025-04-16, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct was released on 2025-02-01.

Granite 3.3 8B Base is 2 months newer than Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

2mo newer
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Feb 1, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Base has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has a cutoff of 2024-06-01.

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct has more recent training data (up to 2024-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Granite 3.3 8B Base (2024-04-01).

Granite 3.3 8B Base

Apr 2024

Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

Jun 2024

2 mo newer

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

IBM

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Microsoft
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Base
✓ Preferred
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Base
Microsoft
Phi-4-multimodal-instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Base vs Phi-4-multimodal-instruct.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Base or Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Granite 3.3 8B Base (IBM) and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct (Microsoft) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Granite 3.3 8B Base compare to Phi-4-multimodal-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%. Phi-4-multimodal-instruct scores ScienceQA Visual: 97.5%, DocVQA: 93.2%, MMBench: 86.7%, POPE: 85.6%, OCRBench: 84.4%.

What are the context window sizes for Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Granite 3.3 8B Base supports an unknown number of tokens and Phi-4-multimodal-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 Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Key differences include licensing (Apache 2.0 vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Granite 3.3 8B Base and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct?

Granite 3.3 8B Base is developed by IBM and Phi-4-multimodal-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

Related comparisons