ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Granite-4.0-H-Micro vs Qwen3.5 2B

Qwen3.5 2B comes out ahead, 78 to 62 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  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. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 2B

    Released Mar 2, 2026

    78/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.02 / $0.10
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.5 2B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.5 2B is our pick

Qwen3.5 2B is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Micro (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 priceQwen3.5 2BQwen3.5 2B $0.04 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro $0.042 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 2BQwen3.5 2B 262,144 · Granite-4.0-H-Micro 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 2BGranite-4.0-H-Micro: Text · Qwen3.5 2B: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGranite-4.0-H-MicroQwen3.5 2B
Price50%100100
Inputs & features30%2570
Context window20%2537
Overall100%62/10078/100

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 Qwen3.5 2B specifications side by side
SpecificationGranite-4.0-H-MicroIBMQwen3.5 2BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.018 (best)$0.02
Output$0.115$0.10 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.042$0.04 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens (best)81,920 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenApache-2.0
API model ID——
API providers22
ReleasedOct 2, 2025Mar 2, 2026
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
  • Qwen3.5 2B$0.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Granite-4.0-H-Micro or Qwen3.5 2B?

Qwen3.5 2B is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Micro (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 or Qwen3.5 2B?

Qwen3.5 2B is cheaper at $0.02 input / $0.10 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 $0.04 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 2B versus $0.042 for Granite-4.0-H-Micro (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 Qwen3.5 2B 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 Qwen3.5 2B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.5 2B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Granite-4.0-H-Micro. Maximum output per response: Granite-4.0-H-Micro up to 131,072, Qwen3.5 2B up to 81,920 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Granite-4.0-H-Micro accepts text; Qwen3.5 2B accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.5 2B 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?

Qwen3.5 2B is the newest, released Mar 2, 2026. 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

Related comparisons