GPT-5 mini (High) vs Granite 4.2 8B
Which is better for the money: GPT-5 mini (High) by OpenAI or Granite 4.2 8B 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 5.7 points higher (16.8 vs 11.1) but costs 3.6× as much to run the benchmark ($189 vs $53.1; both mid-range class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5 mini (High) when you need intelligence above 11.1, and Granite 4.2 8B when 11.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5 mini (High) | Granite 4.2 8B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 16.8 | 11.1 | −33.9% Granite 4.2 8B is 33.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $188.66 | $53.07 | −71.9% Granite 4.2 8B is 71.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 58.72s | 41.16s | −29.9% Granite 4.2 8B is 29.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.25 / $2.00 | $0.06 / $0.25 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Granite 4.2 8B vs GPT-5 mini (High): 33.9% less intelligence, 71.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 29.9% 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 8B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (High) scores 32.90 for $47.9.
GPT-5 mini (High)Granite 4.2 8BToday'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-4-2-8b · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-mini/granite-4-2-8b?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill