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Granite 4.2 8B vs Llama Guard 4 12B

Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B cost about the same per output token ($0.20 vs $0.18 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.

Replace Granite 4.2 8B Replace Llama Guard 4 12B
Granite 4.2 8BIBM Granite
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.20
Llama Guard 4 12BMeta Llama
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.18
vs $0.20 vs $0.18 per 1M output tokens. Llama Guard 4 12B is 1.1x cheaper.

Granite 4.2 8B or Llama Guard 4 12B: which to pick

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.

Compare them on price, context and the boards below.

Model AGranite 4.2 8BIBM GraniteNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel BLlama Guard 4 12BMeta LlamaNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task

No benchmark has tested both yet. Granite 4.2 8B has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and LMArena Text: coding; Llama Guard 4 12B has none yet. Compare them on price and context instead.

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.

At a glance

Coding index
Granite 4.2 8B not benchmarked, Llama Guard 4 12B not benchmarked.
Widest category
None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
Widest single gap
None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
Output price
Granite 4.2 8B $0.20 against Llama Guard 4 12B $0.18 per million output tokens, 1.1x apart.
Context window
Granite 4.2 8B takes 131K tokens, Llama Guard 4 12B 164K.

Benchmark by benchmark

Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.

CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index4 boards measured
Coding benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
AA Coding Index22.4Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
SciCode31.5%Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: coding1378Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: software and IT1366Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
Intelligence benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
AA Intelligence Index11.1Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
Agentic work benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
AA Agentic Index1.3Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
Reasoning benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)63.1%Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)9.7%Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts1327Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: expert1386Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English1344Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
Knowledge benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
LMArena Text: science1335Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare1332Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: legal and government1327Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: business and finance1322Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index12 boards measured
General benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BLlama Guard 4 12BLeader
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)45.0%Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text1319Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: instruction following1301Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: creative writing1235Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: English1337Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: non-English1300Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: Chinese1365Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: Russian1280Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: multi-turn1300Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: longer queries1324Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: writing and language1269Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LMArena Text: entertainment and media1271Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 36 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$0.0002Fits in one request
Llama Guard 4 12B$0.0003Fits in one request

Granite 4.2 8B costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Granite 4.2 8B$0.0046Fits in one request
Llama Guard 4 12B$0.0095Fits in one request

Granite 4.2 8B costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Granite 4.2 8B$0.018Exceeds the context window
Llama Guard 4 12B$0.038Exceeds the context window

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.

Specifications of Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B
SpecificationIBM Granite 4.2 8BMeta Llama Guard 4 12B
MakerIBM GraniteMeta Llama
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weights
ReleasedAugust 31, 2026April 30, 2025
Context window131K164K
Input $/Mtok$0.08$0.18
Output $/Mtok$0.20$0.18
Coding indexNot benchmarkedNot benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it00
Cost per solved taskNot computableNot computable
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Llama Guard 4 12B for coding?

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.

Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or Llama Guard 4 12B?

Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.08 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18 and $0.18. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.

Which has the bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama Guard 4 12B, with 164K tokens against 131K.

Has any benchmark tested both Granite 4.2 8B and Llama Guard 4 12B?

No benchmark has tested both yet. Granite 4.2 8B has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and LMArena Text: coding; Llama Guard 4 12B has none yet. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 23, 2026.

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