# Granite 4.2 30B vs Qwen3.6-35B-A3B (slim)

> Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scores 62.7 (B) to Granite 4.2 30B's 61 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- 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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Qwen3.6-35B-A3B scores 62.7 (B) on agent readiness against Granite 4.2 30B's 61 (C), and leads in 0 of 4 scored categories. Granite 4.2 30B leads on reach, agent interface 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
- Qwen3.6-35B-A3B: B 62.7, rank #27 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwen3-6-35b-a3b.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 Ahead on Reach, 90 against 85; Agent interface, 85 against 70; Documentation and upkeep, 87 against 31.
- Qwen3.6-35B-A3B, good for Agents with a 32 GB or larger machine that want a quick, permissively licensed coding and tool-calling cousin with vision.

| Category | Granite 4.2 30B | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 90 | 85 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 55 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 70 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 87 | 31 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Granite 4.2 30B | Qwen3.6-35B-A3B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | IBM | Alibaba (Qwen team) |
| Last release | 2026-09-04 | 2026-04-16 |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.8/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Documentation and upkeep, Granite 4.2 30B +56: 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…); Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 31 (The model card earns 11, covering intended use, architecture, parameters and context but not limitations, languages or a cut-off.)
- Agent interface, Granite 4.2 30B +15: Granite 4.2 30B 85 (Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository, with roles, tools, tool responses, the thinking switch and low effort.); Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 70 (The chat template earns 20 as a Jinja file in the repository.)
- Reach, Granite 4.2 30B +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.); Qwen3.6-35B-A3B 85 (Memory earns 20 because the smallest 4-bit build from a runtime's own library is Ollama's Q4_K_M at 23 GB, which comes to 27.6 GB with the fifth added, so it ne…)