Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Granite 4.2 8B leads Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 11.1 to 8.9, at about the same output price ($0.20 vs $0.22 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 27 benchmarks have a result for both.
Granite 4.2 8B or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 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 1.1x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.22 per million) and work measured by LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 27
- Granite 4.2 8B only
- 0
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B only
- 15
- 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Granite 4.2 8B
Granite 4.2 8B leads, 11.1 against 8.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Granite 4.2 8B
Granite 4.2 8B leads, 1.3 against 1.0.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B takes 262K tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Granite 4.2 8B $0.0002, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Granite 4.2 8B not benchmarked, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 5.6 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): Granite 4.2 8B 63.1% against Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 75.7%, 12.6 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Granite 4.2 8B $0.20 against Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B $0.22 per million output tokens, 1.1x apart.
- Context window
- Granite 4.2 8B takes 131K tokens, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 262K.
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 | Granite 4.2 8B | Bars | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 2 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 4 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 4 | ||
| General | 2 | 10 | ||
| All shared boards | 7 | 20 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index22
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 22.4 | 14.4 | Granite 4.2 8B |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 74.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| SciCode | 31.5% | 30.6% | Granite 4.2 8B |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 13.6% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1378 | 1378 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1366 | 1382 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 11.1 | 8.9 | Granite 4.2 8B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 1.3 | 1.0 | Granite 4.2 8B |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 40.9% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 63.1% | 75.7% | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 9.7% | 11.4% | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1327 | 1348 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1386 | 1356 | Granite 4.2 8B |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1344 | 1376 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 18 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 91.0 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 91.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1371 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1375 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 79.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1335 | 1353 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1332 | 1349 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1327 | 1341 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1322 | 1345 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index210
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 71.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 45.0% | 38.0% | Granite 4.2 8B |
| LMArena Text | 1319 | 1348 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1301 | 1304 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1235 | 1270 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: English | 1337 | 1378 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1300 | 1320 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1365 | 1383 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1348 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1269 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1269 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1396 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1376 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1280 | 1304 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1302 | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1300 | 1319 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1324 | 1300 | Granite 4.2 8B |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1269 | 1284 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1271 | 1294 | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | 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
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | IBM Granite | NVIDIA |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | August 31, 2026 | December 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 131K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.08 | $0.055 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.20 | $0.22 |
| 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 Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 1.1x cheaper ($0.20 vs $0.22 per million) and work measured by LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?
Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.08 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs $0.055 and $0.22. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B, with 262K tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B comparison based on?
27 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Granite 4.2 8B's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.