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Comparisons /

Meta Llama 3.1 8B vs Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct

On provider list prices, Meta Llama 3.1 8B costs $0.20 per million input tokens against $0.20 for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct: effectively level. Output is $0.20 against $0.20.

Meta Llama 3.1 8B Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct
LabMetaMeta
AccessOpen weightsOpen weights
Context window16K tokens8K tokens
List price, input$0.2 / M tokens$0.2 / M tokens
List price, output$0.2 / M tokens$0.2 / M tokens
Cached inputn/an/a
LicenseLlama communityLlama community
Fine-tunableYesYes

Specifications and provider list prices from the Allocate catalog, checked 2026-09-12.

What the numbers say

Take 1,000,000 requests a month at 1,200 input and 350 output tokens each. That workload costs $310 a month on Meta Llama 3.1 8B and $310 on Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct at list: a gap of $0.

Meta Llama 3.1 8B reads 16K tokens per request against 8K for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct, 2.0x the window. That decides which one can take whole documents without splitting them.

Meta Llama 3.1 8B$0.20$0.20
Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct$0.20$0.20
InputOutput

Choose Meta Llama 3.1 8B for

  • The longer context window (16K vs 8K tokens)
Meta Llama 3.1 8B details →

Choose Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct for

  • Training toward a model you own
Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct details →

Common questions

Which is cheaper, Meta Llama 3.1 8B or Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct?

Meta Llama 3.1 8B, on this workload shape. At list prices it is $0.20/$0.20 per million tokens in and out against $0.20/$0.20 for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct. Billed on Allocate: $0.21/$0.21 against $0.21/$0.21.

Which has the bigger context window?

Meta Llama 3.1 8B: 16,384 tokens (16K) against 8,192 (8K) for Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct.

Can I fine-tune Meta Llama 3.1 8B or Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct?

Both publish open weights (Meta Llama 3.1 8B: Llama community; Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct: Llama community), so both can be fine-tuned. On Allocate the trained weights stay inside your boundary and belong to you.

Related comparisons

Meta Llama 3.1 8B vs Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct ReferenceMeta Llama 3 8B Instruct vs Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct ReferenceMeta Llama 3 8B Instruct vs Ministral 3 14B Instruct 2512Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct vs Mistral (7B) Instruct v0.1Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct vs Mistral (7B) Instruct v0.3Meta Llama 3 8B Instruct vs Mistral Small (24B) Instruct 25.01

Run the numbers on your workload

LLM price comparisonAgent cost calculatorMeta Llama 3.1 8BMeta Llama 3 8B Instruct

Or do not choose. On Allocate a route name is the contract: point yours at one model today, swap to the other tomorrow, and compare them on your live traffic with per-token metering.

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