Granite 4.2 30B vs Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning)
Which is better for the money: Granite 4.2 30B by IBM or Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) by SpaceXAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) scores 1.3 points higher (14.0 vs 12.7) but costs 2.3× as much to run the benchmark ($250 vs $111; both mid-range class). Pick Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Granite 4.2 30B.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 30B | Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 12.7 | 14.0 | +10.2% Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoni… is 10.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $110.83 | $250.37 | +125.9% Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoni… is 2.3× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 61.27s | 5.86s | −90.4% Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoni… is 90.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.16 / $0.65 | $1.25 / $2.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) vs Granite 4.2 30B: 10.2% more intelligence, 125.9% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 90.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Granite 4.2 30B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 37.90 for $110.
- Grok 4.3 (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
Granite 4.2 30BGrok 4.3 (Non-reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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