IBM Granite 4.2 30B vs Qwen3 30B A3B
IBM Granite 4.2 30B and Qwen3 30B A3B are closely matched at 24.0 and 17.7 on the LLM Stats Score.
IBM · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
IBM Granite 4.2 30B and Qwen3 30B A3B are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 24.0 and 17.7.
In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, IBM Granite 4.2 30B 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 value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
Choose Qwen3 30B A3B
- you want predictable pricing at $0.10/M input and $0.30/M output
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 · 8 for Qwen3 30B A3B
IBM Granite 4.2 30B outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA), while Qwen3 30B A3B is better at 0 benchmarks.
IBM Granite 4.2 30B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 30B A3B has 0.5B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 30B, making it 1.7% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Qwen3 30B A3B specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
IBM Granite 4.2 30B was released on 2026-08-25, while Qwen3 30B A3B was released on 2025-04-29.
IBM Granite 4.2 30B is 16 months newer than Qwen3 30B A3B.
Aug 25, 2026
5 days ago
1.3yr newerApr 29, 2025
1.3 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 30B and Qwen3 30B A3B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 30B vs Qwen3 30B A3B.