Granite-4.0-H-Small vs Grok 4.1 Fast vs Apertus 8B
Grok 4.1 Fast comes out ahead, 71 to 63 and 56 on our weighted score, though Granite-4.0-H-Small is 2.4× cheaper per token.
IBMGranite-4.0-H-Small
63/100- ECI—
- Price$0.064 / $0.265
- Context131K
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4.1 Fast
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
Swiss AI
Apertus 8B
56/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.20
- Context66K
Grok 4.1 Fast is our pick
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Small (63) and Apertus 8B (56). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Granite-4.0-H-Small wins 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 priceGranite-4.0-H-SmallGranite-4.0-H-Small $0.114 · Apertus 8B $0.125 · Grok 4.1 Fast $0.275 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.1 FastGrok 4.1 Fast 2,000,000 · Granite-4.0-H-Small 131,072 · Apertus 8B 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4.1 FastGranite-4.0-H-Small: Text · Grok 4.1 Fast: Text, Images · Apertus 8B: Text
- Self-hostingGranite-4.0-H-Small and Apertus 8BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Granite-4.0-H-Small | Grok 4.1 Fast | Apertus 8B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 95 | 76 | 93 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 72 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 63/100 | 71/100 | 56/100 |
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-SmallIBM | Grok 4.1 FastxAI | Apertus 8BSwiss AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.064 (best) | $0.20 | $0.10 |
| Output | $0.265 | $0.50 | $0.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.114 (best) | $0.275 | $0.125 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official watsonx.ai API | Median of 2 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 2,000,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 30,000 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | ibm/granite-4-h-small | — | — |
| API providers | 1 | 2 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Oct 2, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 | Sep 2, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Sep 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-Small$1.17
- Grok 4.1 Fast$3.00
- Apertus 8B$1.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Granite-4.0-H-Small, Grok 4.1 Fast or Apertus 8B?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Granite-4.0-H-Small (63) and Apertus 8B (56). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Granite-4.0-H-Small wins 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-Small, Grok 4.1 Fast or Apertus 8B?
Granite-4.0-H-Small is cheaper at $0.064 input / $0.265 output per million tokens (official watsonx.ai API price). Apertus 8B costs $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Grok 4.1 Fast costs $0.20 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.114 per million tokens for Granite-4.0-H-Small versus $0.125 for Apertus 8B (1.1× as much) and $0.275 for Grok 4.1 Fast (2.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Granite-4.0-H-Small has not been scored yet, Grok 4.1 Fast has not been scored yet and Apertus 8B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Granite-4.0-H-Small, Grok 4.1 Fast and Apertus 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok 4.1 Fast has the largest context window at 2,000,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Granite-4.0-H-Small and 65,536 for Apertus 8B. Maximum output per response: Granite-4.0-H-Small up to 131,072, Grok 4.1 Fast up to 30,000, Apertus 8B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Granite-4.0-H-Small accepts text; Grok 4.1 Fast accepts text and images; Apertus 8B accepts text. Grok 4.1 Fast handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Granite-4.0-H-Small and Apertus 8B publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Grok 4.1 Fast is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the newest, released Nov 19, 2025. Granite-4.0-H-Small came out Oct 2, 2025; Apertus 8B came out Sep 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Apertus 8B Sep 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 Oct 4, 2026.
