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IBM Granite 4.2 8B vs Kimi-k1.5

IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5 are closely matched at 19.9 and 17.4 on the LLM Stats Score.

IBM · Moonshot AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 19.9 and 17.4.

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

Choose IBM Granite 4.2 8B

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Kimi-k1.5

  • you are already invested in the Moonshot AI ecosystem

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B
IBM
Kimi-k1.5
Moonshot AI
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
19.9
#185
17.4
#200
Reasoning
17.6
#193
16.6
#199
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
IBM Granite 4.2 8B
Kimi-k1.5
Math
21.2#141
20.5#148
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

18 reported for IBM Granite 4.2 8B · 9 for Kimi-k1.5

No common benchmarks found

IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Kimi-k1.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas IBM Granite 4.2 8B does not.

Kimi-k1.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Kimi-k1.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

IBM Granite 4.2 8B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Kimi-k1.5 uses a proprietary license.

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

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Kimi-k1.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

IBM Granite 4.2 8B was released on 2026-08-25, while Kimi-k1.5 was released on 2025-01-20.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 19 months newer than Kimi-k1.5.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B

Aug 25, 2026

6 days ago

1.6yr newer
Kimi-k1.5

Jan 20, 2025

1.6 years 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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

IBM Granite 4.2 8B
✓ Preferred
Kimi-k1.5
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 8B vs Kimi-k1.5.

Which is better, IBM Granite 4.2 8B or Kimi-k1.5?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5 are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 19.9 and 17.4. IBM Granite 4.2 8B is made by IBM and Kimi-k1.5 is made by Moonshot 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 8B compare to Kimi-k1.5 in benchmarks?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B scores AIME 2025: 86.7%, RULER 64k: 81.0%, IFBench: 79.3%, HMMT25: 78.3%, MMLU-Pro: 74.0%. Kimi-k1.5 scores MATH-500: 96.2%, CLUEWSC: 91.4%, C-Eval: 88.3%, MMLU: 87.4%, IFEval: 87.2%.

What are the main differences between IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (19.9 vs 17.4), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Apache 2.0 vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Kimi-k1.5?

IBM Granite 4.2 8B is developed by IBM and Kimi-k1.5 is developed by Moonshot AI.

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