# Granite 4.2 30B vs Granite 4.2 8B (slim)

> Granite 4.2 30B and Granite 4.2 8B score within a point of each other for open-weight models you run yourself, 61 and 61 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-4-2-30b-vs-granite-4-2-8b.md (~9,050 tokens) · this version ~580 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-4-2-30b-vs-granite-4-2-8b.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-4-2-30b-vs-granite-4-2-8b
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-10
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Granite 4.2 30B and Granite 4.2 8B score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61 (C) and 61 (C). Granite 4.2 8B leads on reach and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Granite 4.2 30B: C 61, rank #65 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/granite-4-2-30b.min.md
- Granite 4.2 8B: C 61, rank #66 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/granite-4-2-8b.min.md
- Granite 4.2 30B, good for Agents that want a documented, signed, Apache 2.0 reasoning model with tool calling on a 24 GB card
- Granite 4.2 8B, good for Agents that want a documented, signed, Apache 2.0 reasoning model with tool calling on a 16 GB machine Ahead on Reach, 95 against 90; Documentation and upkeep, 92 against 87.

| Category | Granite 4.2 30B | Granite 4.2 8B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 90 | 95 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 55 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 87 | 92 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Granite 4.2 30B | Granite 4.2 8B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Last release | 2026-09-04 | 2026-10-20 |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Granite 4.2 8B +5: Granite 4.2 30B 90 (Memory 25, IBM's own 4-bit MLX build granite-4.2-30b-q4-mlx is 16.47 GB, and 16.47 GB × 1.2 = 19.8 GB, which fits 24 GB but not 16 GB.); Granite 4.2 8B 95 (Memory 30, IBM's own 4-bit MLX build granite-4.2-8b-q4-mlx is 4.95 GB, and 4.95 GB × 1.2 = 5.9 GB, within 8 GB.)
- Documentation and upkeep, Granite 4.2 8B +5: Granite 4.2 30B 87 (Model card 17, Intended use (best for), limitations (ethical considerations and limitations), architecture, parameters (30B), context length (128K native) and 1…); Granite 4.2 8B 92 (Model card 17, Intended use (best for), limitations (ethical considerations and limitations), architecture, parameters (8B), context length (128K native) and 12…)