# Granite Embedding Small English R2 vs Qwen3-Embedding-4B (slim)

> Qwen3-Embedding-4B scores 72.9 (BB) to Granite Embedding Small English R2's 41.7 (E) for text embeddings. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-embedding-small-english-r2-vs-qwen3-embedding-4b.md (~2,300 tokens) · this version ~530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-embedding-small-english-r2-vs-qwen3-embedding-4b.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-embedding-small-english-r2-vs-qwen3-embedding-4b
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-10-21
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Qwen3-Embedding-4B scores 72.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Granite Embedding Small English R2's 41.7 (E), and leads in 3 of 5 scored categories. Granite Embedding Small English R2 leads on documentation and upkeep. Both do text embeddings.

- Granite Embedding Small English R2: E 41.7, rank #100 of 100 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/granite-embedding-small-english-r2.min.md
- Qwen3-Embedding-4B: BB 72.9, rank #3 of 100 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwen3-embedding-4b.min.md
- Granite Embedding Small English R2, good for Agents that need small, fast English retrieval embeddings on any hardware with permissive licensing Ahead on Documentation and upkeep, 37 against 21.
- Qwen3-Embedding-4B, good for Agents that need local multilingual text or code retrieval on a laptop, a small GPU or a CPU, with a plain licence. Ahead on Capability, 81 against 10; Reach, 100 against 70; Agent interface, 65 against 60. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5.

| Category | Granite Embedding Small English R2 | Qwen3-Embedding-4B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | 10 | 81 |
| Reach (25%) | 70 | 100 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 55 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 60 | 65 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 37 | 21 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Granite Embedding Small English R2 | Qwen3-Embedding-4B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | IBM | Alibaba (Qwen team) |
| Last release | 2026-01-21 | 2025-08-03 |
| Terms last updated |  | no document linked |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |