Granite 4.1 8B vs Qwen3 235B A22B
Wins 1 of 6 areas
Long documents
Wins 4 of 6 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts
Qwen3 235B A22B is the stronger all-rounder.Granite 4.1 8B is cheaper and better at long documents.
Scores updated · 26 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking02Qwen3 235B A22B2 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- CodingWriting and fixing software02Qwen3 235B A22B2 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up02Qwen3 235B A22B2 of 2 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own01Qwen3 235B A22B1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10Granite 4.1 8B1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked00Even0 each · 1 tie
Agents, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Granite 4.1 8B costs 96% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Qwen3 235B A22B pulls ahead
- Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+26.7points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+18.1points ahead
- Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+9.6points ahead
Where Granite 4.1 8B pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 26 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingQwen3 235B A22B
- SciCodeQwen3 235B A22B by 18.121.839.9+18.1
- Terminal-Bench HardQwen3 235B A22B by 6.106.1+6.1
ReasoningQwen3 235B A22B
- GPQA DiamondQwen3 235B A22B by 26.743.370+26.7
- Humanity's Last ExamQwen3 235B A22B by 7.23.811+7.2
- CritPttie00tie
FactsQwen3 235B A22B
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationQwen3 235B A22B by 9.512.922.4+9.5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyQwen3 235B A22B by 6.212.318.5+6.2
Other results16 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- Arena HardQwen3 235B A22B by 26.66995.6+26.6
- MMMLUQwen3 235B A22B by 21.964.886.7+21.9
- AA-OmniscienceQwen3 235B A22B by 19.4-64.1-44.7+19.4
- IncludeQwen3 235B A22B by 14.658.973.5+14.6
- MMLUQwen3 235B A22B by 13.273.887+13.2
- MMLU-ProQwen3 235B A22B by 12.25668.2+12.2
- BBHQwen3 235B A22B by 8.480.588.9+8.4
- SimpleQAQwen3 235B A22B by 8.44.813.2+8.4
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexQwen3 235B A22B by 7.99.517.4+7.9
- AA Agentic IndexQwen3 235B A22B by 7.710.718.4+7.7
- MBPPGranite 4.1 8B by 5.987.381.4+5.9
- MultiPL-EQwen3 235B A22B by 5.660.365.9+5.6
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Granite 4.1 8B by 3.827.824+3.8
- AA IntelligenceQwen3 235B A22B by 2.96.69.5+2.9
- GSM8KQwen3 235B A22B by 1.992.594.4+1.9
- MGSMQwen3 235B A22B by 1.282.383.5+1.2
Questions people ask
Which is better, Granite 4.1 8B or Qwen3 235B A22B?
Qwen3 235B A22B wins four of the six areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning and facts. Granite 4.1 8B wins long documents, and costs 96% less. They are level on following instructions.
Which is better for coding?
Qwen3 235B A22B. It wins 2 of the 2 coding tests both models report; Granite 4.1 8B wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Granite 4.1 8B costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.10 per million output tokens; Qwen3 235B A22B costs $0.70 and $2.80. That makes Granite 4.1 8B about 96% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 26 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 10 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 16 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.