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IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 are closely matched at 15.6 and 19.4 on the LLM Stats Score.

IBM · NVIDIA · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 15.6 and 19.4.

The models split the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose IBM Granite 4.2 3B

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B
IBM
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
NVIDIA
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
15.6
#213
19.4
#190
Reasoning
12.0
#234
19.1
#189
Coding
-6.7
#247
12.6
#134
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 2
1 of 2
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
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Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
Math
13.7#216
15.7#205
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for IBM Granite 4.2 3B · 6 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

2 shared

IBM Granite 4.2 3B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Mon Aug 31 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

250.0B diff

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 has 250.0B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 3B, making it 8333.3% larger.

IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
3.0Bparameters
NVIDIA
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
253.0Bparameters
3.0B
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
253.0B
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

License

Usage and distribution terms

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 uses Llama 3.1 Community License.

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

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

IBM Granite 4.2 3B was released on 2026-08-25, while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 was released on 2025-04-07.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 17 months newer than Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Aug 25, 2026

6 days ago

1.4yr newer
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Apr 7, 2025

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-01, while IBM Granite 4.2 3B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1's training data extends to 2023-12-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.2 3B's cutoff date.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

—

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Dec 2023

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1.

Which is better, IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 15.6 and 19.4. IBM Granite 4.2 3B is made by IBM and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is made by NVIDIA. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does IBM Granite 4.2 3B compare to Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 in benchmarks?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B scores AIME 2025: 78.3%, IFBench: 74.3%, LiveCodeBench v6: 69.7%, MMLU-Pro: 67.8%, RULER 64k: 67.5%. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 scores MATH-500: 97.0%, IFEval: 89.5%, GPQA: 76.0%, BFCL v2: 74.1%, AIME 2025: 72.5%.

What are the main differences between IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (15.6 vs 19.4), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Llama 3.1 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is developed by IBM and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is developed by NVIDIA.

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