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IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) are closely matched at 15.5 and 16.5 on the LLM Stats Score. IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 2.9x cheaper per token.

IBM · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 15.5 and 16.5.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, IBM Granite 4.2 3B is roughly 2.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) also accepts a larger context window (262,100 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

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

Choose IBM Granite 4.2 3B

  • cost matters — it's about 2.9x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,100 token context window

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B
IBM
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Mistral AI
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
15.5
#238
16.5
#230
Reasoning
11.8
#257
16.6
#222
Coding
-6.9
#270
9.0
#185
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 2
2 of 2
Input price
$0.03 / M
$0.15 / M
Output price
$0.12 / M
$0.15 / M
Context window
131,072
262,100

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Math
13.7#226
17.1#200
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for IBM Granite 4.2 3B · 4 for Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

2 shared

IBM Granite 4.2 3B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Oct 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

IBM Granite 4.2 3B costs less

For input processing, IBM Granite 4.2 3B ($0.03/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, IBM Granite 4.2 3B ($0.12/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) ($0.15/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is more expensive than IBM Granite 4.2 3B.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Oct 07 2026 • llm-stats.com
IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.12
Best providerDeepinfra
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.15
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

5.0B diff

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) has 5.0B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 3B, making it 166.7% larger.

IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
3.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
8.0Bparameters
3.0B
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
8.0B
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) accepts 262,100 input tokens compared to IBM Granite 4.2 3B's 131,072 tokens. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can generate longer responses up to 262,100 tokens, while IBM Granite 4.2 3B is limited to 131,072 tokens.

IBM
IBM Granite 4.2 3B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Mistral AI
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Input262,100 tokens
Output262,100 tokens
Wed Oct 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas IBM Granite 4.2 3B does not.

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

IBM Granite 4.2 3B was released on 2026-08-25, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 9 months newer than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

Aug 25, 2026

1 months ago

8mo newer
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

Dec 4, 2025

10 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is available from DeepInfra. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.12/1M

Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.15/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

IBM Granite 4.2 3B
✓ Preferred
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 3B vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).

Which is better, IBM Granite 4.2 3B or Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 15.5 and 16.5. IBM Granite 4.2 3B is made by IBM and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is made by Mistral AI. 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 Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) 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%. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) scores AIME 2024: 86.0%, AIME 2025: 78.7%, GPQA: 66.8%, LiveCodeBench: 61.6%.

Is IBM Granite 4.2 3B cheaper than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. IBM Granite 4.2 3B costs $0.03/M input and $0.12/M output via deepinfra. Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B supports 131K tokens and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (15.5 vs 16.5), context window (131K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.03 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes IBM Granite 4.2 3B and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)?

IBM Granite 4.2 3B is developed by IBM and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is developed by Mistral AI.

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