Granite 4.2 3B vs Kimi K3.1 Pro
Which is better for the money: Granite 4.2 3B by IBM or Kimi K3.1 Pro by Kimi? 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
Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 46.0 points higher (55.1 vs 9.1) but costs 209× as much to run the benchmark ($3117 vs $14.9; flagship vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3.1 Pro when you need intelligence above 9.1, and Granite 4.2 3B when 9.1 is enough.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 3B | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 9.1 | 55.1 | +505.5% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 6.1× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $14.91 | $3,117.31 | +20807.5% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 209× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 35.30s | 42.64s | +20.8% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 20.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.03 / $0.12 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Granite 4.2 3B: 505.5% more intelligence, 20807.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 20.8% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Granite 4.2 3B is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- Kimi K3.1 Pro is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
Granite 4.2 3BKimi K3.1 ProToday'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/granite-4-2-3b/kimi-k3-1-pro · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/granite-4-2-3b/kimi-k3-1-pro?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill