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Granite 4.2 8B vs MiniMax M2.5

MiniMax M2.5 leads Granite 4.2 8B on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.8 to 11.1, and Granite 4.2 8B costs 6.0x less per output token ($0.20 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 24 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Granite 4.2 8B Replace MiniMax M2.5
Granite 4.2 8BIBM Granite
Coding
No data
Overall
No data
Output $/M
$0.20
1
MiniMax M2.5MiniMax
Coding
37.2
Overall
37.3
Output $/M
$1.20
23
vs boards won of 24 shared

Granite 4.2 8B or MiniMax M2.5: which to pick

Only MiniMax M2.5 has a coding score, 37.2 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 6.0x cheaper ($0.20 vs $1.20 per million) and work measured by LMArena Text: expert, where it leads.

Model AGranite 4.2 8BIBM GraniteNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel BMiniMax M2.5MiniMax37.2/1003 independent benchmarks$0.62 per solved task
Shared results
24
Granite 4.2 8B only
3
MiniMax M2.5 only
47
Like-for-like categories
5 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.

At a glance

Coding index
Granite 4.2 8B not benchmarked, MiniMax M2.5 37.2 from 3 benchmarks.
Widest category
Intelligence, 11.7 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
Widest single gap
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): Granite 4.2 8B 45.0% against MiniMax M2.5 73.3%, 28.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Granite 4.2 8B $0.20 against MiniMax M2.5 $1.20 per million output tokens, 6.0x apart.
Context window
Granite 4.2 8B takes 131K tokens, MiniMax M2.5 205K.

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.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryGranite 4.2 8BBarsMiniMax M2.5Ties
Coding02
Intelligence01
Reasoning14
Knowledge04
General012
All shared boards123
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index02
Coding benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
SWE-bench VerifiedNot measured75.8%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SWE-bench MultilingualNot measured68.3%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena WebDevNot measured1386Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
AA Coding Index22.4Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)Not measured79.2%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)Not measured74.2%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)Not measured14.8%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SciCode31.5%Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured34.8%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Terminal-BenchNot measured42.7%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
ALE-BenchNot measured618.2Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: coding13781380MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: software and IT13671383MiniMax M2.5
LMArena WebDev: ReactNot measured1374Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena WebDev: HTMLNot measured1414Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SWE Atlas: Codebase QnANot measured10.3%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SWE Atlas: RefactoringNot measured19.5%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
SWE Atlas: Test WritingNot measured18.6%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
Intelligence benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
AA Intelligence Index11.122.8MiniMax M2.5
Epoch Capabilities IndexNot measured146.6Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
Agentic work benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
AA Agentic Index1.3Not measuredOnly Granite 4.2 8B measured
τ²-Bench TelecomNot measured95.3%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Vending-Bench 2Not measured-$23Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14
Reasoning benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
GPQA DiamondNot measured82.1%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)63.1%84.8%MiniMax M2.5
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)9.7%20.5%MiniMax M2.5
ARC-AGINot measured63.7%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured4.9%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts13271372MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: expert13861378Granite 4.2 8B
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English13451384MiniMax M2.5
Kagi LLM BenchmarkNot measured55.2%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
Math benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
AIMENot measured88.8%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
ProofBenchNot measured4.0%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: mathNot measured1378Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: mathematical workNot measured1378Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
Knowledge benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
MMLU ProNot measured80.1%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)Not measured80.0%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
CaseLaw (Vals AI)Not measured53.5%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)Not measured59.6%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)Not measured68.2%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
MedQA (Vals AI)Not measured92.5%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: science13361369MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare13361357MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: legal and government13271366MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: business and finance13221356MiniMax M2.5
Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
Web design benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
Design Arena: websitesNot measured1222Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: UI componentsNot measured1170Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: game devNot measured1176Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: data vizNot measured1172Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: 3DNot measured1170Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: all code categoriesNot measured1207Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Design Arena: SVGNot measured1150Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index012
General benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
IFBenchNot measured71.6%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)45.0%73.3%MiniMax M2.5
CL-benchNot measured11.4%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
CL-bench LifeNot measured6.3%Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text13191359MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: instruction following13001353MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: creative writing12361331MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: English13371380MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: non-English13011338MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: Chinese13671393MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: GermanNot measured1361Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: JapaneseNot measured1171Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: KoreanNot measured1233Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: FrenchNot measured1363Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: SpanishNot measured1353Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: Russian12821359MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: PolishNot measured1334Only MiniMax M2.5 measured
LMArena Text: multi-turn13011364MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: longer queries13251366MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: writing and language12691345MiniMax M2.5
LMArena Text: entertainment and media12711329MiniMax M2.5
Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Granite 4.2 8B and MiniMax M2.5
BenchmarkGranite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5Leader
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$0.0002Fits in one request
MiniMax M2.5$0.0009Fits 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
MiniMax M2.5$0.019Fits 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
MiniMax M2.5$0.072Exceeds 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 MiniMax M2.5
SpecificationIBM Granite 4.2 8BMiniMax M2.5
MakerIBM GraniteMiniMax
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weights
ReleasedAugust 31, 2026February 12, 2026
Context window131K205K
Input $/Mtok$0.08$0.30
Output $/Mtok$0.20$1.20
Coding indexNot benchmarked37.2
Independent measurements behind it03
Cost per solved taskNot computable$0.62
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Granite 4.2 8B better than MiniMax M2.5 for coding?

Only MiniMax M2.5 has a coding score, 37.2 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 6.0x cheaper ($0.20 vs $1.20 per million) and work measured by LMArena Text: expert, where it leads.

Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or MiniMax M2.5?

Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.08 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; MiniMax M2.5 costs $0.30 and $1.20. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2.5 only.

Which has the bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or MiniMax M2.5?

MiniMax M2.5, with 205K tokens against 131K.

How many benchmarks is the Granite 4.2 8B vs MiniMax M2.5 comparison based on?

24 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Granite 4.2 8B's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M2.5's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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