IBM Granite 4.2 8B vs Phi 4 Reasoning
IBM Granite 4.2 8B leads the LLM Stats Score 19.7 to 12.0.
IBM · Microsoft · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
IBM Granite 4.2 8B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 19.7 to 12.0, ranking #208 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Phi 4 Reasoning 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 8B
- overall performance matters — it scores 19.7 and ranks #208 on LLM Stats
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 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 8B · 11 for Phi 4 Reasoning
IBM Granite 4.2 8B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (AIME 2025), while Phi 4 Reasoning is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro).
Phi 4 Reasoning shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Reasoning has 6.0B more parameters than IBM Granite 4.2 8B, making it 75.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only IBM Granite 4.2 8B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only IBM Granite 4.2 8B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
License
Usage and distribution terms
IBM Granite 4.2 8B is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi 4 Reasoning uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
IBM Granite 4.2 8B was released on 2026-08-25, while Phi 4 Reasoning was released on 2025-04-30.
IBM Granite 4.2 8B is 16 months newer than Phi 4 Reasoning.
Aug 25, 2026
1 months ago
1.3yr newerApr 30, 2025
1.4 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 Reasoning has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-01, while IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4 Reasoning's training data extends to 2025-03-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without IBM Granite 4.2 8B's cutoff date.
—
Mar 2025
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against IBM Granite 4.2 8B and Phi 4 Reasoning side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about IBM Granite 4.2 8B vs Phi 4 Reasoning.