# Granite 4.2 8B vs Step 3.7 Flash (slim)

> Granite 4.2 8B scores 61 (C) to Step 3.7 Flash's 59.8 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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Granite 4.2 8B scores 61 (C) on agent readiness against Step 3.7 Flash's 59.8 (C), and leads in 3 of 4 scored categories. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Granite 4.2 8B: C 61, rank #66 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/granite-4-2-8b.min.md
- Step 3.7 Flash: C 59.8, rank #93 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/step-3-7-flash.min.md
- 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 70; Risk, 55 against 45; Documentation and upkeep, 92 against 39.
- Step 3.7 Flash, good for Teams with a GPU server or a provider account that want an open, long-context agent model with vision

| Category | Granite 4.2 8B | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 95 | 70 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 45 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 85 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 92 | 39 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Granite 4.2 8B | Step 3.7 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | IBM | StepFun |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (metadata and card; no LICENSE file) |
| Last release | 2026-10-20 | 2026-06-03 |

Why the edge:
- Documentation and upkeep, Granite 4.2 8B +53: 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…); Step 3.7 Flash 39 (Model card 14, Intended use, the architecture, the parameters, the context and the language (in the metadata) are on the card.)
- Reach, Granite 4.2 8B +25: 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.); Step 3.7 Flash 70 (Memory 5, the smallest build at 4 bits is StepFun's IQ4_XS GGUF, 104.99 GB with the 3.97 GB projector, and 108.96 GB × 1.2 = 130.8 GB, over what the reference m…)
- Risk, Granite 4.2 8B +10: Granite 4.2 8B 55 (File safety 15, safetensors only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).); Step 3.7 Flash 45 (File safety 15, safetensors and GGUF only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).)