GPT-5 mini (High) vs Granite 4.2 3B
Which is better for the money: GPT-5 mini (High) by OpenAI or Granite 4.2 3B by IBM? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5 mini (High) scores 7.7 points higher (16.8 vs 9.1) but costs 13× as much to run the benchmark ($189 vs $14.9; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5 mini (High) when you need intelligence above 9.1, and Granite 4.2 3B when 9.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5 mini (High) | Granite 4.2 3B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 16.8 | 9.1 | −45.8% Granite 4.2 3B is 45.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $188.66 | $14.91 | −92.1% Granite 4.2 3B is 92.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 58.74s | 49.42s | −15.9% Granite 4.2 3B is 15.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $2.00 | $0.03 / $0.12 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Granite 4.2 3B vs GPT-5 mini (High): 45.8% less intelligence, 92.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 15.9% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5 mini (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Haiku 5.5 (Xhigh) scores 41.20 for $158.
- Granite 4.2 3B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
GPT-5 mini (High)Granite 4.2 3BToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-mini/granite-4-2-3b · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-mini/granite-4-2-3b?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill