GPT-2 Medium vs Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
GPT-2 Medium (2019) and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from OpenAI and IBM Research. GPT-2 Medium ships a 1k-token context window, while Granite 3.3 8B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct fits 128x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and GPT-2 Medium for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | GPT-2 Medium | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | general production evaluation | tool-calling agents and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | General | RAG, Agents, and Long context |
| Context window | 1k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | - | $0.25/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Use GPT-2 Medium when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Granite 3.3 8B Instruct for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
GPT-2 Medium
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
$86.50
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for GPT-2 Medium and Granite 3.3 8B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Granite 3.3 8B Instruct adds JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Granite 3.3 8B Instruct and GPT-2 Medium; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2019-02-14 | 2025-03-01 |
| Context window | 1k | 128k |
| Parameters | 355M | 8B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2017-12 | 2024-04 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | GPT-2 Medium | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.03/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $0.25/1M tokens |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | GPT-2 Medium | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-19. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.