Granite 4.2 3B vs Ling 3.1 Flash 1019
Which is better for the money: Granite 4.2 3B by IBM or Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 by InclusionAI? 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
Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 scores 34.8 points higher (43.9 vs 9.1) but costs 104× as much to run the benchmark ($1552 vs $14.9; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 when you need intelligence above 9.1, and Granite 4.2 3B when 9.1 is enough.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 3B | Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 9.1 | 43.9 | +382.4% Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 is 4.8× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $14.91 | $1,551.81 | +10307.8% Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 is 104× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 35.30s | Not reported | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.03 / $0.12 | $0.30 / $0.90 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 vs Granite 4.2 3B: 382.4% more intelligence, 10307.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
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.
- Ling 3.1 Flash 1019 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Granite 4.2 3BLing 3.1 Flash 1019Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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