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Gemini 3 Pro vs Granite 3.1 8B

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Gemini 3 Pro specs · Granite 3.1 8B specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceTie

    Neither model publishes per-token API pricing.

  • Context windowGemini 3 Pro

    Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K, 8.2× the room for long documents and codebases.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesGemini 3 Pro

    Gemini 3 Pro supports 4 modalities (text, vision, audio, video) vs 1 for Granite 3.1 8B.

  • OpennessGranite 3.1 8B

    Granite 3.1 8B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.

On balance Gemini 3 Pro edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Granite 3.1 8B's 1. Neither model publishes per-token API pricing. Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K, 8.2× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Gemini 3 Pro handles text, vision, audio, video while Granite 3.1 8B handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Granite 3.1 8B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.

Gemini 3 Pro is the newer of the two, released 12 months after Granite 3.1 8B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Gemini 3 Pro is usually picked for long context and rag workloads, while Granite 3.1 8B sees more deployments in enterprise llm and commercial use llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecGemini 3 ProGranite 3.1 8B
ProviderGoogleOther
ReleasedDec 2025Dec 2024
Modalitiestext, vision, audio, videotext
Context window1.0M tokens128K tokens
Max output65.5K tokens,
Input · 1MPricing not publishedPricing not published
Output · 1MPricing not publishedPricing not published
Knowledge cutoff2025-01,
Open weightsNoYes (Apache-2.0)
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day, vs ,
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs ,
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs ,

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Gemini 3 ProPricing unavailable
  • Granite 3.1 8BPricing unavailable

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Gemini 3 ProGranite 3.1 8B
  • MMLU91.8
  • HumanEval95.4
  • GPQA91.9
Pick Gemini 3 Pro if

Gemini 3 Pro fits when…

  • Massive 1M-token context window
  • State-of-the-art vision and document understanding
  • Strong reasoning at competitive price
  • Long-context tasks, handles 1.0M tokens vs 128K for Granite 3.1 8B.
  • Multimodal needs covering vision, audio, video.
Pick Granite 3.1 8B if

Granite 3.1 8B fits when…

  • Apache-2.0
  • Enterprise-friendly
  • IP-clean training
  • Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Apache-2.0).
Don't want either?

Consider Gemini 3 Flash

Google's high-speed, low-cost mid-tier with the same massive context window, popular for high-volume RAG.

See Gemini 3 Flash specsGemini 3 Pro vs Gemini 3 FlashGranite 3.1 8B vs Gemini 3 Flash

Frequently asked

  • Is Gemini 3 Pro or Granite 3.1 8B cheaper?
    Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K for Granite 3.1 8B.
  • Is Gemini 3 Pro or Granite 3.1 8B better for coding?
    Both Gemini 3 Pro and Granite 3.1 8B are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Granite 3.1 8B ships open weights (Apache-2.0). Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.
  • When were Gemini 3 Pro and Granite 3.1 8B released?
    Gemini 3 Pro was released by Google on 2025-12-09. Granite 3.1 8B was released by Other on 2024-12-18.
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