Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs North Mini Code vs PaddleOCR VL
North Mini Code comes out ahead, 68 to 62 and 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
IBMGranite-4.0-H-Micro
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.018 / $0.115
- Context131K
- Our pick
CohereNorth Mini Code
68/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context256K
PaddlePaddle
PaddleOCR VL
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.02 / $0.02
- Context131K
North Mini Code is our pick
North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Micro (62) and PaddleOCR VL (62). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code Free · PaddleOCR VL $0.02 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro $0.042 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNorth Mini CodeNorth Mini Code 256,000 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro 131,072 · PaddleOCR VL 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsPaddleOCR VLGranite-4.0-H-Micro: Text · North Mini Code: Text · PaddleOCR VL: Text, Images
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Granite-4.0-H-Micro | North Mini Code | PaddleOCR VL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 36 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 68/100 | 62/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Granite-4.0-H-MicroIBM | North Mini CodeCohere | PaddleOCR VLPaddlePaddle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.018 | Free (best) | $0.02 |
| Output | $0.115 | Free (best) | $0.02 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.042 | Free (best) | $0.02 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Official Cohere API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 64,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yeshigh | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | — | north-mini-code-1-0 | — |
| API providers | 2 | 4 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Oct 2, 2025 | Jun 9, 2026 | Oct 16, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Sep 23, 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Granite-4.0-H-Micro$0.405
- North Mini CodeFree
- PaddleOCR VL$0.24
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Granite-4.0-H-Micro, North Mini Code or PaddleOCR VL?
North Mini Code is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Micro (62) and PaddleOCR VL (62). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Granite-4.0-H-Micro, North Mini Code or PaddleOCR VL?
North Mini Code is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). PaddleOCR VL costs $0.02 input / $0.02 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Granite-4.0-H-Micro costs $0.018 input / $0.115 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). North Mini Code is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Granite-4.0-H-Micro has not been scored yet, North Mini Code has not been scored yet and PaddleOCR VL has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Granite-4.0-H-Micro, North Mini Code and PaddleOCR VL yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that PaddleOCR VL does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
North Mini Code has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Granite-4.0-H-Micro and 131,072 for PaddleOCR VL. Maximum output per response: Granite-4.0-H-Micro up to 131,072, North Mini Code up to 64,000, PaddleOCR VL up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Granite-4.0-H-Micro accepts text; North Mini Code accepts text; PaddleOCR VL accepts text and images. PaddleOCR VL handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
North Mini Code is the newest, released Jun 9, 2026. PaddleOCR VL came out Oct 16, 2025; Granite-4.0-H-Micro came out Oct 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: North Mini Code Sep 23, 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
