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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs PaddleOCR VL

Too close to call on our weighted score (Granite-4.0-H-Micro 62, PaddleOCR VL 62). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. IBM

    Granite-4.0-H-Micro

    Released Oct 2, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.018 / $0.115
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Granite-4.0-H-Micro

  2. PaddlePaddle

    PaddleOCR VL

    Released Oct 16, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.02 / $0.02
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove PaddleOCR VL

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Granite-4.0-H-Micro 62/100, PaddleOCR VL 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: PaddleOCR VL on price. 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 pricePaddleOCR VLPaddleOCR VL $0.02 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro $0.042 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameGranite-4.0-H-Micro 131,072 · PaddleOCR VL 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsPaddleOCR VLGranite-4.0-H-Micro: Text · PaddleOCR VL: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGranite-4.0-H-MicroPaddleOCR VL
Price50%100100
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%2525
Overall100%62/10062/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs PaddleOCR VL specifications side by side
SpecificationGranite-4.0-H-MicroIBMPaddleOCR VLPaddlePaddle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.018 (best)$0.02
Output$0.115$0.02 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.042$0.02 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenApache-2.0
API model ID——
API providers2 (best)1
ReleasedOct 2, 2025Oct 16, 2025
Knowledge cutoff——
03 — Cost

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
  • PaddleOCR VL$0.24
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Granite-4.0-H-Micro or PaddleOCR VL?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Granite-4.0-H-Micro 62/100, PaddleOCR VL 62/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: PaddleOCR VL on price. 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 or PaddleOCR VL?

PaddleOCR VL is cheaper at $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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.02 per million tokens for PaddleOCR VL versus $0.042 for Granite-4.0-H-Micro (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Granite-4.0-H-Micro 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 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?

Granite-4.0-H-Micro and PaddleOCR VL share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: Granite-4.0-H-Micro up to 131,072, PaddleOCR VL up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Granite-4.0-H-Micro accepts text; PaddleOCR VL accepts text and images. PaddleOCR VL handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

PaddleOCR VL is the newest, released Oct 16, 2025. Granite-4.0-H-Micro came out Oct 2, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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