Granite 4.2 8B
Summary
Granite 4.2 8B is an open-weight language model from IBM, released on 25 Aug 2026. It accepts text and generates text, with a 131K-token context window and up to 118K output tokens per response. As of 21 Oct 2026, the lowest listed API price is $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens (OpenRouter), across 1 provider we track.
Reasoning model for deliberate analysis, multi-step problem solving, and tool use
Last verified 21 Oct 2026. Every figure on this page links to its source.
Specifications
| Developer | IBM |
|---|---|
| Release date | 25 Aug 2026 [models.dev] |
| Status | Generally available [models.dev] |
| Weights | Open weights [Hugging Face] |
| License | apache-2.0 [Hugging Face] |
| Parameters | 8.8B [Hugging Face] |
| Context window | 131K (131,072 tokens) [models.dev] |
| Max output | 118K tokens [models.dev] |
| Input | Text [models.dev] |
| Output | Text [models.dev] |
| Reasoning mode | Yes [models.dev] |
| Tool calling | Yes [models.dev] |
| Structured output | Yes [models.dev] |
| Hugging Face | ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b [Hugging Face] |
Granite 4.2 8B API pricing by provider
USD per million tokens. Sorted by input price.
| Provider | Input | Output | Cached input | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b | $0.06 | $0.25 | $0.01 | 131K | OpenRouter, 21 Oct 2026 |
Running Granite 4.2 8B locally
Estimated memory, from the parameter count and the architecture in config.json on Hugging Face. Includes about 0.8 GB of runtime overhead.
| Quantization | Weights | Total, 8K context | Total, 32K context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_M (4-bit) | 5.3 GB | 7.5 GB | 11 GB |
| Q8_0 (8-bit) | 9.3 GB | 11 GB | 16 GB |
| FP16 / BF16 (16-bit) | 18 GB | 20 GB | 24 GB |
At 4-bit with an 8K conversation, Granite 4.2 8B needs about 7.5 GB, so it fits on a graphics card with 10 GB or more, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB. Check your own hardware, or see Best GPU for local LLMs on our sister site AIPCs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the context window of Granite 4.2 8B?
Granite 4.2 8B has a context window of 131,072 tokens (131K) and can generate up to 117,964 tokens in a single response, according to models.dev.
How much does the Granite 4.2 8B API cost?
Granite 4.2 8B is listed from $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.25 per million output tokens (OpenRouter). Prices last verified 21 Oct 2026.
Is Granite 4.2 8B open source?
Granite 4.2 8B is an open-weight model: its weights are published on Hugging Face as ibm-granite/granite-4.2-8b under the apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before commercial use.
When was Granite 4.2 8B released?
IBM released Granite 4.2 8B on 25 Aug 2026, according to models.dev.
How much VRAM does Granite 4.2 8B need?
About 7.5 GB at 4-bit (Q4_K_M) with an 8K-token conversation, and about 11 GB at 8-bit. The 4-bit model fits on a graphics card with 10 GB or more, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10 GB. These are estimates from the model's published parameter count and architecture.
Change history
- License changed from none to apache-2.0
- Parameter count changed from none to 8.8B
- Now listed on OpenRouter
- Added to the directory