Granite 4.1 8B is $0.08 cheaper per 1M input tokens (62.1% lower; 2.64x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
🔥Hy3 vs Granite 4.1 8B
Pick Granite 4.1 8B for lower cost; pick Hy3 only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
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 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 $0.4 for Hy3, saving $0.3 (74.7% lower).
Cost-first pickGranite 4.1 8B
Context-first pickHy3
Sample savings$0.374.7%
10x traffic gap$2.96
Hy3 has more context, but Granite 4.1 8B saves $0.3 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $2.96. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Granite 4.1 8B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Hy3 | Granite 4.1 8B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Granite 4.1 8B | $0.92 | $0.3 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Granite 4.1 8B | $0.66 | $0.15 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Granite 4.1 8B | $2.77 | $0.55 |
Granite 4.1 8B is $0.43 cheaper per 1M output tokens (81.1% lower; 5.28x difference).
Hy3 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Granite 4.1 8B is $0.3 cheaper on the standard workload (74.7% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Granite 4.1 8B has the lower input price; Granite 4.1 8B has the lower output price; Hy3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Granite 4.1 8B is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.4 for Hy3 and $0.1 for Granite 4.1 8B.
Choose Hy3 when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Granite 4.1 8B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.4 for Hy3, saving $0.3 (74.7% lower).
- Granite 4.1 8B is $0.3 cheaper on the standard workload (74.7% lower).
- Granite 4.1 8B is $0.08 cheaper per 1M input tokens (62.1% lower; 2.64x difference).
- Granite 4.1 8B is $0.43 cheaper per 1M output tokens (81.1% lower; 5.28x difference).
- Hy3 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | 🔥Hy3 (Tencent) | Granite 4.1 8B (IBM) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.132 | $0.05 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.528 | $0.1 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.4 | $0.1 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 131.07K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #3 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Granite 4.1 8B | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $0.4 for Hy3, saving $0.3 (74.7% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Granite 4.1 8B | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Granite 4.1 8B | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Hy3 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Hy3 (free) can replace Hy3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Hy-MT2-1.8B can replace Hy3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
- Hy-MT2-30B-A3B can replace Hy3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.
- Hy-MT2-7B can replace Hy3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.11 sample workload cost.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
- Ox Alpha · stealth · #4
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 · DeepSeek · #5
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
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Open provider hubsTencent catalog
Review all tracked Tencent models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Tencent modelsIBM catalog
Check other IBM models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open IBM modelsHy3 is a 295B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts model from Tencent (21B active, 192 experts with top-8 routing) built for reasoning, agentic workflows, and real-world production use. It supports a configurable reasoning effort:...
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...