AI Models · Open-Source vs Paid

Granite 4.2 8B Open vs PEPerceptron Mk1.5 Paid

Granite 4.2 8B vs Perceptron Mk1.5 compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Can the open-source model replace the paid one? Full 2026 breakdown.

Perceptron Mk1.5 — full profile ›

Prices & specs refreshed from live data · olud.ai

Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.

Granite 4.2 8BOpenIBM
$0.06 /M input
$0.25 /M outputNo per-token fees if you self-host
TypeOpen-weight
Context window131K tokens
MultimodalNo
Self-hostYes
PEPerceptron Mk1.5PaidPerceptron
$0.15 /M input
$1.5 /M outputManaged API (no infra to run)
TypeProprietary
Context window37K tokens
MultimodalYes
Self-hostNo
Choose Granite 4.2 8B if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Perceptron Mk1.5 if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

Granite 4.2 8B vs Perceptron Mk1.5 specs

SpecGranite 4.2 8BPerceptron Mk1.5Winner
MakerIBMPerceptron–
TypeOpen-weightProprietaryGranite 4.2 8B
Context window131K tokens37K tokensGranite 4.2 8B
Input price$0.06/M · free self-host$0.15/MGranite 4.2 8B
Output price$0.25/M · free self-host$1.5/MGranite 4.2 8B
Vision / multimodalNoYesPEPerceptron Mk1.5
Tool / function callingYesYes= Tie
Self-hostableYesNo (API only)Granite 4.2 8B
LicenseApache 2.0ProprietaryGranite 4.2 8B

Price gap & when to choose each

6.0×cheaper per output token

Granite 4.2 8B is ~6.0× cheaper than Perceptron Mk1.5 on output tokens ($0.25 vs $1.5 per M tokens).

Choose Granite 4.2 8B if…
  • You want to self-host or run on your cloud
  • You need the longer 131K context window
  • You prioritize data privacy & control
  • You want the lowest operating costs
  • You are building open or reproducible AI
PEChoose Perceptron Mk1.5 if…
  • You want frontier performance through a managed API
  • You value reliability & ecosystem
  • You don't want to manage infrastructure

Feature comparison

CapabilityGranite 4.2 8BPerceptron Mk1.5
Open weights (downloadable)✓✗
Self-hostable✓✗
Runs fully offline✓✗
Vision / multimodal✗✓
Tool / function calling✓✓
1M+ context window✗✗

Benchmarks: Granite 4.2 8B vs Perceptron Mk1.5

Independent benchmark scores measured by Artificial Analysis. Higher is better (except latency).

Granite 4.2 8B
Perceptron Mk1.5
Intelligence index
11.1
–
Coding index
22.4
–
GPQA
63.1%
–
Humanity's Last Exam
9.7%
–
Long Context Reasoning
45%
–
SciCode
31.5%
–
τ-Bench Banking
7.6%
–
Terminal-Bench
18.4%
–
Speed
115.7 tok/s
–
Latency
0.28s
–
Intelligence per $
103.7
–

Benchmark data by Artificial Analysis.

How Granite 4.2 8B and Perceptron Mk1.5 score

🏆 Best value & openness: Granite 4.2 8B (4.4 vs 2.9 / 5)
CriterionGranite 4.2 8BPerceptron Mk1.5
Cost-efficiency5.04.5
Context window3.52.5
Openness5.01.5
Self-hosting5.01.0
Multimodality3.55.0

Scores come from live data — output price (cost), context length, open vs closed weights (openness & self-hosting) and vision/tool support (multimodality). Raw task quality isn't scored here; it depends on your benchmark — see the verdict.

What each model is

Granite 4.2 8B Open

IBM · Open-weight

Granite 4.2 8B is a dense reasoning model from IBM. It is suited for mathematics, code generation, multilingual dialogue, and agentic workflows that need multi-step reasoning. It supports full, low-effort,...

Perceptron Mk1.5 Paid

Perceptron · Proprietary

Perceptron Mk1.5 is Perceptron's embodied reasoning model for physical agents. It accepts text, image, video, and audio input, and answers with text plus optional structured annotations: points, boxes, polygons, tracks,...

Other models in these families

These variants are tracked but not compared here — one page per family keeps the comparison readable.

Other variants tracked
Granite 4.0 Micro

Frequently asked questions

Is Granite 4.2 8B as good as Perceptron Mk1.5?

Granite 4.2 8B is open-weight and competitive on many tasks, but Perceptron Mk1.5 may still lead on the hardest reasoning and agentic work. The gap keeps narrowing — benchmark both on your actual use case before deciding.

Can I run Granite 4.2 8B locally?

Yes. Granite 4.2 8B has open weights, so you can self-host it on your own GPUs or run it via a low-cost API. Perceptron Mk1.5 is API-only and cannot be self-hosted.

How much cheaper is Granite 4.2 8B?

Granite 4.2 8B costs $0.25/M output vs $1.5/M for Perceptron Mk1.5 — roughly 6x cheaper via API, and free if you self-host.

Granite 4.2 8B vs Perceptron Mk1.5 — which should I pick in 2026?

Choose Granite 4.2 8B if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Perceptron Mk1.5 if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.

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