IBM Granite 4.2 30B vs Grok-3 Mini
Grok-3 Mini leads the LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 24.0.
IBM · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 Mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 24.0, ranking #98 overall.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-3 Mini wins 2; 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 IBM Granite 4.2 30B
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.7 and ranks #98 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
18 reported for IBM Granite 4.2 30B · 4 for Grok-3 Mini
IBM Granite 4.2 30B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-3 Mini is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).
Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Grok-3 Mini specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Grok-3 Mini specifies output context (8,000 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas IBM Granite 4.2 30B does not.
Grok-3 Mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
IBM Granite 4.2 30B
Grok-3 Mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
IBM Granite 4.2 30B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Grok-3 Mini uses a proprietary license.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
IBM Granite 4.2 30B was released on 2026-08-25, while Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17.
IBM Granite 4.2 30B is 18 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.
Aug 25, 2026
5 days ago
1.5yr newerFeb 17, 2025
1.5 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while IBM Granite 4.2 30B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.2 30B's cutoff date.
—
Nov 2024
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 30B and Grok-3 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 30B vs Grok-3 Mini.