DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) vs Granite 4.2 3B
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) by DeepSeek or Granite 4.2 3B by IBM? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) scores 15.3 points higher (24.4 vs 9.1) but costs 8.1× as much to run the benchmark ($121 vs $14.9; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) when you need intelligence above 9.1, and Granite 4.2 3B when 9.1 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) | Granite 4.2 3B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.4 | 9.1 | −62.7% Granite 4.2 3B is 62.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $121.20 | $14.91 | −87.7% Granite 4.2 3B is 87.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 35.30s | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.11 / $0.23 | $0.03 / $0.12 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
Granite 4.2 3B vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High): 62.7% less intelligence, 87.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 37.90 for $110.
- Granite 4.2 3B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (High)Granite 4.2 3BToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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