How much does Granite 4.2 8B cost?

Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens through the API. For example, 1,000 chat replies of about 500 tokens in and 300 out cost around $0.105.

What is the context window of Granite 4.2 8B?

Granite 4.2 8B can read up to 131,072 tokens in one request, about 246 pages of text. It can write up to 117,964 tokens in a single answer.

Is Granite 4.2 8B open source?

Yes. Its weights are published (ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b), so you can download it and run it on your own hardware, or use it through one of 2 API providers.

Who makes Granite 4.2 8B?

Granite 4.2 8B is made by IBM. It became available through the API on August 31, 2026.

Can Granite 4.2 8B read images?

No. Granite 4.2 8B only accepts text as input.

What are the alternatives to Granite 4.2 8B?

Models with a similar price from other companies include Solar Mini 4, Schematron V2 Small and Ternary Bonsai 2 27B. You can compare them side by side on this page.

Granite 4.2 8B

IBMibm-granite/granite-4.2-8bProviders: 2

Inputi$0.06per 1M tokens

Outputi$0.25per 1M tokens

Contexti128K131,072 tokens

ReleasedAug 31, 2026Max output: 118K

About this model

Granite 4.2 8B is an AI model from IBM, made available through the API on August 31, 2026. It can read up to 131,072 tokens in one request, roughly 246 pages of text, and write up to 117,964 tokens in a single answer.

Through the API it costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens. Its pricing puts it among the more affordable models we track, which makes it a good fit for high-volume tasks.

It supports extended reasoning: it can "think" step by step before answering, which helps on maths, code and complex questions. It can call tools and functions, so developers can connect it to search, databases or other software. Its weights are openly published (ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b), so it can also be downloaded and run on your own hardware.

Quality scores

Rankings →

Not rated yet. Independent test results usually appear a few weeks after a model is released.

Benchmark data: Epoch AI, licensed CC BY 4.0

Where to use it

Companies that serve this model through an API: 2. Prices per million tokens, cheapest first.

Provider	Inputi	Outputi	Contexti	Uptime (24 h)i
CoreWeaveCheapestbf16	$0.10	$0.15	128K	100.0%
DeepInfrabf16	$0.06	$0.25	128K	100.0%

Availability and prices come from OpenRouter’s public API and are refreshed daily. Uptime is the share of successful requests over the last 24 hours. Some providers run a compressed version of open models (fp8, int4), which is cheaper but can be slightly less accurate.

Use it in your code

Call Granite 4.2 8B through OpenRouter’s OpenAI-compatible API: create a key on openrouter.ai, then run one of these examples.

curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"}]}'

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1", api_key=os.environ["OPENROUTER_API_KEY"])
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1", apiKey: process.env.OPENROUTER_API_KEY });
const reply = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello! What can you do?" }],
});
console.log(reply.choices[0].message.content);

The same code works with every model on this site: only the model ID changes. Many labs also offer their own API and SDK.

What it costs in practice

1,000 chat replies
≈ 500 tokens in, 300 out each
$0.105
Summarise a 100-page document
≈ 50,000 tokens in, 1,000 out
$0.0033
An app with 10,000 requests a day for a month
≈ 1,000 tokens in, 400 out each
$48.00

Cost calculator →

Similar-priced alternatives

Model	Inputi	Outputi	Contexti
Solar Mini 4Upstage	$0.05	$0.20	512K	Compare with ⇄
Schematron V2 SmallInference Net	$0.05	$0.23	128K	Compare with ⇄
Ternary Bonsai 2 27BPrism Ml	$0.075	$0.50	256K	Compare with ⇄
Nex-N2.5-ProNex Agi	$0.075	$0.25	256K	Compare with ⇄
Ling 3.0 Flash FininclusionAI (Ant Group)	$0.06	$0.18	256K	Compare with ⇄
Nemotron 3.5 LightningNVIDIA	$0.06	$0.16	256K	Compare with ⇄

Frequently asked questions

How much does Granite 4.2 8B cost?: Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens through the API. For example, 1,000 chat replies of about 500 tokens in and 300 out cost around $0.105.
What is the context window of Granite 4.2 8B?: Granite 4.2 8B can read up to 131,072 tokens in one request, about 246 pages of text. It can write up to 117,964 tokens in a single answer.
Is Granite 4.2 8B open source?: Yes. Its weights are published (ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b), so you can download it and run it on your own hardware, or use it through one of 2 API providers.
Who makes Granite 4.2 8B?: Granite 4.2 8B is made by IBM. It became available through the API on August 31, 2026.
Can Granite 4.2 8B read images?: No. Granite 4.2 8B only accepts text as input.
What are the alternatives to Granite 4.2 8B?: Models with a similar price from other companies include Solar Mini 4, Schematron V2 Small and Ternary Bonsai 2 27B. You can compare them side by side on this page.