Granite 4.2 8B vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B
Granite 4.2 8B costs 1.5x less per output token than Mistral Small 3.2 24B ($0.20 vs $0.30 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.20
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.30
Granite 4.2 8B or Mistral Small 3.2 24B: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Granite 4.2 8B for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.30 per million).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Granite 4.2 8B has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and LMArena Text: coding; Mistral Small 3.2 24B on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev. 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.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Granite 4.2 8B has a AA Intelligence Index result, 11.1.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Granite 4.2 8B has a AA Agentic Index result, 1.3.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B has a Design Arena: websites result, 896.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Mistral Small 3.2 24B
Mistral Small 3.2 24B takes 256K tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Granite 4.2 8B
Granite 4.2 8B $0.0002, Mistral Small 3.2 24B $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Granite 4.2 8B not benchmarked, Mistral Small 3.2 24B 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 Mistral Small 3.2 24B $0.30 per million output tokens, 1.5x apart.
- Context window
- Granite 4.2 8B takes 131K tokens, Mistral Small 3.2 24B 256K.
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
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 22.4 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| SciCode | 31.5% | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1378 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1367 | Not measured | Only 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
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 11.1 | Not measured | Only 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
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 1.3 | Not measured | Only 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
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 63.1% | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 9.7% | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1327 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1386 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1345 | Not measured | Only 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
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | 1336 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1336 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1327 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1322 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 896 | Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | Not measured | 904 | Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 889 | Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 929 | Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 907 | Only Mistral Small 3.2 24B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 4 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index12 boards measured
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 45.0% | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text | 1319 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1300 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1236 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1337 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1301 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1367 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1282 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1301 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1325 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1269 | Not measured | Only Granite 4.2 8B measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1271 | Not measured | Only 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 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 | IBM Granite 4.2 8B | Mistral Small 3.2 24B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | IBM Granite | Mistral AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | August 31, 2026 | June 20, 2025 |
| Context window | 131K | 256K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.08 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.20 | $0.30 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Mistral Small 3.2 24B for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Granite 4.2 8B for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.30 per million).
Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or Mistral Small 3.2 24B?
Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.08 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Mistral Small 3.2 24B costs $0.10 and $0.30. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or Mistral Small 3.2 24B?
Mistral Small 3.2 24B, with 256K tokens against 131K.
Has any benchmark tested both Granite 4.2 8B and Mistral Small 3.2 24B?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Granite 4.2 8B has results on AA Coding Index, SciCode and LMArena Text: coding; Mistral Small 3.2 24B on Design Arena: websites, Design Arena: UI components and Design Arena: game dev. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.