Granite 3.1 8B vs Grok 4
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Granite 3.1 8B specs · Grok 4 specs- PriceGrok 4
Grok 4 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while Granite 3.1 8B does not.
- Context windowGrok 4
Grok 4 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× 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.
- ModalitiesGrok 4
Grok 4 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Granite 3.1 8B.
- OpennessGranite 3.1 8B
Granite 3.1 8B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 4 is API-only.
On balance Grok 4 edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against Granite 3.1 8B's 1. Grok 4 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while Granite 3.1 8B does not. Grok 4 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× 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, Granite 3.1 8B handles text while Grok 4 handles text, vision, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Granite 3.1 8B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Grok 4 is API-only.
Grok 4 is the newer of the two, released 7 months after Granite 3.1 8B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Granite 3.1 8B is usually picked for enterprise llm and commercial use llm workloads, while Grok 4 sees more deployments in reasoning and research agent. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Granite 3.1 8B | Grok 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Other | xAI |
| Released | Dec 2024 | Jul 2025 |
| Modalities | text | text, vision |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 256K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | Pricing not published | $3.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | Pricing not published | $15.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | 2024-11 |
| Open weights | Yes (Apache-2.0) | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
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 $31.50
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs $315
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs $540
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).
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Granite 3.1 8BPricing unavailable
- Grok 4$1.05
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- GPQA,87.5
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).
Grok 4 fits when…
- Real-time X data access
- Strong on benchmarks at launch
- Less restrictive content policy than peers
- Long-context tasks, handles 256K tokens vs 128K for Granite 3.1 8B.
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Consider DBRX
Databricks' 132B MoE, a notable 2024 open-weight release tuned for enterprise.
Frequently asked
Is Granite 3.1 8B or Grok 4 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?
Grok 4 accepts 256K tokens vs 128K for Granite 3.1 8B.Is Granite 3.1 8B or Grok 4 better for coding?
Both Granite 3.1 8B and Grok 4 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). Grok 4 is API-only.When were Granite 3.1 8B and Grok 4 released?
Granite 3.1 8B was released by Other on 2024-12-18. Grok 4 was released by xAI on 2025-07-09.
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