API cost decision in 10 seconds

Granite 4.1 8B vs 🔥Hy3 preview

Pick Granite 4.1 8B for lower cost; pick Hy3 preview only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Granite 4.1 8B for lower cost; pick Hy3 preview only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.2 for Hy3 preview, saving $0.1 (49% lower).

Cost-first pickGranite 4.1 8B
Context-first pickHy3 preview
Sample savings$0.149%
10x traffic gap$0.96

Hy3 preview has more context, but Granite 4.1 8B saves $0.1 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.96. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Granite 4.1 8B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGranite 4.1 8BHy3 preview
Input-heavy / RAG 5M input + 500K output Granite 4.1 8B $0.3 $0.46
Balanced workload 1M input + 1M output Granite 4.1 8B $0.15 $0.33
Output-heavy chatbot 1M input + 5M output Granite 4.1 8B $0.55 $1.37
Cheaper inputGranite 4.1 8B$0.05 vs $0.07 / 1M
Cheaper outputGranite 4.1 8B$0.1 vs $0.26 / 1M
Larger contextHy3 preview131.07K vs 262.14K
Sample workloadGranite 4.1 8B$0.1 vs $0.2

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Granite 4.1 8BCalculating…Estimated API cost
Hy3 previewCalculating…Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workloadCalculating…Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Granite 4.1 8B has the lower input price, Granite 4.1 8B has the lower output price, and Hy3 preview offers the larger context window.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.1 for Granite 4.1 8B and $0.2 for Hy3 preview.

Best Fit

Choose Granite 4.1 8B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Hy3 preview when you care most about larger context window.

Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureGranite 4.1 8B
(IBM)		🔥Hy3 preview
(Tencent)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.05$0.07
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.1$0.26
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.1$0.2
Context Window131.07K262.14K
Release Date2026-04-302026-04-22
Popularity#2
Granite 4.1 8B

Granite 4.1 8B is a dense, decoder-only 8-billion-parameter language model from IBM, part of the Granite 4.1 family. It supports a 131K-token context window and is designed for enterprise tasks...

Hy3 preview

Hy3 preview is a high-efficiency Mixture-of-Experts model from Tencent designed for agentic workflows and production use. It supports configurable reasoning levels across disabled, low, and high modes, allowing it to...

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGranite 4.1 8BOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.2 for Hy3 preview, saving $0.1 (49% lower).
High-volume input processingGranite 4.1 8BLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGranite 4.1 8BLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workHy3 previewA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files.