Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Granite 4.2 8B
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads Granite 4.2 8B on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.2 to 11.1, and Granite 4.2 8B costs 12.5x less per output token ($0.20 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 27 benchmarks have a result for both.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Granite 4.2 8B: which to pick
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, 49.0 on the Vibe Coding Index; Granite 4.2 8B has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Granite 4.2 8B for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.20 vs $2.50 per million).
- Shared results
- 27
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only
- 58
- Granite 4.2 8B only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads, 22.2 against 11.1.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite leads, 14.3 against 1.3.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 83.8%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 85.8%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Granite 4.2 8B
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $0.0015, Granite 4.2 8B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has the number, $0.41.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 49.0 from 3 benchmarks, Granite 4.2 8B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- General, 22.9 points apart on average over 12 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 76.0% against Granite 4.2 8B 45.0%, 31.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite $2.50 against Granite 4.2 8B $0.20 per million output tokens, 12.5x apart.
- Context window
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens, Granite 4.2 8B 131K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Bars | Granite 4.2 8B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 4 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 5 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 4 | 0 | ||
| General | 12 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 27 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index40
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1435 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AA Coding Index | 49.3 | 22.4 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 79.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 75.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 37.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 6.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 50.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 59.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SciCode | 41.3% | 31.5% | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| WeirdML | 39.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ALE-Bench | 765.3 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1453 | 1378 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1451 | 1367 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1408 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1448 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SciCode | 6.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.2 | 11.1 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 144.9 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 14.3 | 1.3 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 47.4% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 7.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 13.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 43.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| APEX-Agents | 29.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 36 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 83.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.8% | 63.1% | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 18.8% | 9.7% | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 83.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 10.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Chess puzzles | 21.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1441 | 1327 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1434 | 1386 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1440 | 1345 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1284 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1291 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 71.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 26.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| ProofBench | 13.0% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1434 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1433 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 85.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.1% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 60.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 72.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 68.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 43.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1451 | 1336 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1438 | 1336 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1431 | 1327 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1423 | 1322 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| FACTS Benchmark Suite | 53.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index120
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 51.8% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 47.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 70.9% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 76.0% | 45.0% | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| DTBench | 83.5% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMCA | 37.6% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text | 1435 | 1319 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1419 | 1300 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1421 | 1236 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision | 1269 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1438 | 1337 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1427 | 1301 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1468 | 1367 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: German | 1454 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1426 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1407 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1451 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1441 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1443 | 1282 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1437 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1445 | 1301 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1435 | 1325 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1428 | 1269 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1414 | 1271 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1269 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | 1311 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1280 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | 1287 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | 1260 | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Granite 4.2 8B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Granite 4.2 8B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Granite 4.2 8B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Granite 4.2 8B costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Google Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | IBM Granite 4.2 8B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | IBM Granite | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | July 21, 2026 | August 31, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.08 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.20 |
| Coding index | 49.0 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.41 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite better than Granite 4.2 8B for coding?
Only Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has a coding score, 49.0 on the Vibe Coding Index; Granite 4.2 8B has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Granite 4.2 8B for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.20 vs $2.50 per million).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Granite 4.2 8B?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.08 and $0.20. Cost per solved task is known for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite only.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Granite 4.2 8B?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Granite 4.2 8B comparison based on?
27 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Granite 4.2 8B's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.