text model comparison
Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Granite 4.2 30B
Gemini 3.8 Flash and Granite 4.2 30B are both current text models, from Google and IBM. On Arena Text, Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 1497 Elo and Granite 4.2 30B 1340 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026). Gemini 3.8 Flash has the larger context window, 1,048,576 vs 128,000 tokens.
Data verified October 13, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-13
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Granite 4.2 30B |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.75 | Not reported |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $3.75 | Not reported |
| Arena Text | 1497 Elo (#5 of 49) (better) | 1340 Elo (#48 of 49) |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.4% (#3 of 40) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 68.4% (#22 of 40) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 69.7% (#7 of 36) | Not measured |
| Provider | IBM | |
| Release date | September 2, 2026 | August 25, 2026 |
| Access | API only | open weights |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text, image, audio, video | text |
| Output | text | text |
When to choose each
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Best for
- High-volume agentic and coding workloads where per-token cost dominates the decision
- Multimodal pipelines that need audio, video and PDF input in one model
Watch out for
- The listed price is promotional and ends 31 December 2026; on 1 January 2027 input and output both double, to $1.50 and $7.50, and cached input goes from $0.075 to $0.15
- Output pricing is billed inclusive of thinking tokens, so reasoning-heavy prompts cost more than the output length suggests
- Google’s published comparisons are against its own previous Flash release and were not independently reproduced here
Granite 4.2 30B
Best for
- Self-hosted enterprise agents that need a permissive licence
Watch out for
- IBM says it is fine-tuned mainly on English instruction data, so other languages may be weaker
- IBM publishes no per-token API price for Granite 4.2
Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Granite 4.2 30B FAQ
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Granite 4.2 30B?
Gemini 3.8 Flash leads on Arena Text, 1497 Elo to 1340 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Granite 4.2 30B?
Gemini 3.8 Flash has the larger context window, 1,048,576 vs 128,000 tokens.
Can I run Gemini 3.8 Flash or Granite 4.2 30B myself?
Granite 4.2 30B is released as open weights you can run yourself; Gemini 3.8 Flash is available through its provider's API only.
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Production evaluation
Choosing between Gemini 3.8 Flash and Granite 4.2 30B?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty