Model Comparison

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs MedGemma 4B ITWhich is better in 2026?

Comparing Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Verdict: Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs MedGemma 4B IT — which is better?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct (by IBM) and MedGemma 4B IT (by Google) 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 Instruct if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $0.50/M output

Choose MedGemma 4B IT if…

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B ITdon'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

3.7B diff

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has 3.7B more parameters than MedGemma 4B IT, making it 86.0% larger.

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Google
MedGemma 4B IT
4.3Bparameters
8.0B
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
4.3B
MedGemma 4B IT

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).

IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Google
MedGemma 4B IT
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT support multimodal inputs.

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

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MedGemma 4B IT

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is licensed under Apache 2.0, while MedGemma 4B IT uses Health AI Developer Foundations terms of use.

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

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

MedGemma 4B IT

Health AI Developer Foundations terms of use

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct was released on 2025-04-16, while MedGemma 4B IT was released on 2025-05-20.

MedGemma 4B IT is 1 month newer than Granite 3.3 8B Instruct.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

MedGemma 4B IT

May 20, 2025

1.1 years ago

1mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-04-01, while MedGemma 4B IT's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Granite 3.3 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2024-04-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without MedGemma 4B IT's cutoff date.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct

Apr 2024

MedGemma 4B IT

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Larger context window (128,000 tokens)

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

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
✓ Preferred
MedGemma 4B IT
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
IBM
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
Google
MedGemma 4B IT

FAQ

Common questions about Granite 3.3 8B Instruct vs MedGemma 4B IT.

Which is better, Granite 3.3 8B Instruct or MedGemma 4B IT?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct (IBM) and MedGemma 4B IT (Google) 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 Instruct compare to MedGemma 4B IT in benchmarks?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct scores HumanEval: 89.7%, AttaQ: 88.5%, HumanEval+: 86.1%, AIME 2024: 81.2%, GSM8k: 80.9%. MedGemma 4B IT scores MIMIC CXR: 88.9%, DermMCQA: 71.8%, PathMCQA: 69.8%, SlakeVQA: 62.3%, VQA-Rad: 49.9%.

What are the context window sizes for Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct supports 128K tokens and MedGemma 4B IT supports an unknown number of 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 Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT?

Key differences include licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Health AI Developer Foundations terms of use). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and MedGemma 4B IT?

Granite 3.3 8B Instruct is developed by IBM and MedGemma 4B IT is developed by Google.