AI model comparison
Granite 4.2 8B vs GPT-5 Nano
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Granite 4.2 8B is a dense reasoning model from IBM. It is suited for mathematics, code generation, multilingual dialogue, and agentic workflows that need multi-step reasoning.
- Input / 1M
- $0.06
- Output / 1M
- $0.25
- Context
- 131K
OpenAI
GPT-5 Nano
GPT-5-Nano is the smallest and fastest variant in the GPT-5 system, optimized for developer tools, rapid interactions, and ultra-low latency environments.
- Input / 1M
- $0.05
- Output / 1M
- $0.40
- Context
- 400K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Granite 4.2 8B
1.2x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
GPT-5 Nano
13 vs 11.1 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
GPT-5 Nano
400K vs 131K tokens
Newer release
Granite 4.2 8B
Released August 31, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Granite 4.2 8B11.1GPT-5 Nano13Coding index
Granite 4.2 8B22.4GPT-5 NanoNot availableAgentic index
Granite 4.2 8B1.3GPT-5 NanoNot availablePricing
Granite 4.2 8B vs GPT-5 Nano API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | GPT-5 Nano |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.06 | $0.05 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.25 | $0.40 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.02 | $0.01 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
| Web searchPer request | Not available | $0.01 |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
Granite 4.2 8B$0.25GPT-5 Nano$0.30Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Granite 4.2 8B$2.80$1.45 cachedGPT-5 Nano$3.10$1.75 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Granite 4.2 8B$9.50$2.75 cachedGPT-5 Nano$8.30$1.55 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | GPT-5 Nano |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 400K tokens |
| Max output | 118K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Input types | Text | File, Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | High, Low, None | High, Medium, Low, Minimal |
| Default reasoning effort | High | Medium |
| Release date | August 31, 2026 | August 7, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Granite 4.2 8B | GPT-5 Nano |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Not supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Not supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Granite 4.2 8BView full model details- Granite 4.2 8B vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- Granite 4.2 8B vs gpt-oss-120b
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Gemma 4 31B
- Granite 4.2 8B vs gpt-oss-20b
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Mercury 2.5
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3 32B
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct
- Granite 4.2 8B vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
GPT-5 NanoView full model details- GPT-5 Nano vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- GPT-5 Nano vs GPT-6 Luna Pro
- GPT-5 Nano vs gpt-oss-120b
- GPT-5 Nano vs Gemma 4 31B
- GPT-5 Nano vs Gemma 4 26B A4B
- GPT-5 Nano vs gpt-oss-20b
- GPT-5 Nano vs GPT-4o-mini
- GPT-5 Nano vs Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507
- GPT-5 Nano vs DeepSeek V3.1
- GPT-5 Nano vs Mercury 2.5
- GPT-5 Nano vs Qwen3.5-9B
- GPT-5 Nano vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
- GPT-5 Nano vs GPT-4.1 Nano
- GPT-5 Nano vs GLM 4.7 Flash
- GPT-5 Nano vs DeepSeek V3.2 Exp
- GPT-5 Nano vs Nemotron 3 Super
- GPT-5 Nano vs Mistral Small 4
- GPT-5 Nano vs Step 3.5 Flash
- GPT-5 Nano vs Mercury 2
Our take
Granite 4.2 8B is 1.2x cheaper for a typical chat. GPT-5 Nano scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (13 vs 11.1). GPT-5 Nano has the larger context window (400K vs 131K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Granite 4.2 8B or GPT-5 Nano cheaper?
Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.06 per 1M input tokens and $0.25 per 1M output tokens, while GPT-5 Nano costs $0.05 per 1M input tokens and $0.40 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or GPT-5 Nano?
GPT-5 Nano supports up to 400K tokens of context, compared with 131K for Granite 4.2 8B.
Is Granite 4.2 8B smarter than GPT-5 Nano?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Granite 4.2 8B scores 11.1 and GPT-5 Nano scores 13, putting GPT-5 Nano ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Granite 4.2 8B and GPT-5 Nano at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Granite 4.2 8B and GPT-5 Nano answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Granite 4.2 8B and GPT-5 Nano at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.