AI model comparison
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Llama 3.2 3B is a 3-billion-parameter multilingual large language model, optimized for advanced natural language processing tasks like dialogue generation, reasoning, and summarization.
- Input / 1M
- $0.05
- Output / 1M
- $0.33
- Context
- 131K
Meta's latest class of model (Llama 3.1) launched with a variety of sizes & flavors. This 70B instruct-tuned version is optimized for high quality dialogue usecases.
- Input / 1M
- $0.40
- Output / 1M
- $0.40
- Context
- 131K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
3.8x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
6.6 vs 5.7 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Tie
131K vs 131K tokens
Newer release
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Released September 25, 2024
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Coding index
Agentic index
Pricing
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 70B Instruct API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.05 | $0.40 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.33 | $0.40 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 131K tokens |
| Max output | 118K tokens | 16K tokens |
| Input types | Text | Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | September 25, 2024 | July 23, 2024 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Not supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Not supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Not supported | Not supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 4 Scout
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs GPT-4.1 Nano
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Gemma 3 27B
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Ministral 3 14B 2512
- Llama 3.2 3B Instruct vs Llama 3.2 1B Instruct
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Llama 4 Maverick
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Gemma 3 27B
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Llama 4 Scout
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs GPT-4.1 Nano
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Saba
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Llama 3.2 1B Instruct
Our take
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 3.8x cheaper for a typical chat. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (6.6 vs 5.7). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or Llama 3.1 70B Instruct cheaper?
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs $0.05 per 1M input tokens and $0.33 per 1M output tokens, while Llama 3.1 70B Instruct costs $0.40 per 1M input tokens and $0.40 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct or Llama 3.1 70B Instruct?
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports up to 131K tokens of context, compared with 131K for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct.
Is Llama 3.2 3B Instruct smarter than Llama 3.1 70B Instruct?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct scores 5.7 and Llama 3.1 70B Instruct scores 6.6, putting Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and Llama 3.1 70B Instruct at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and Llama 3.1 70B Instruct answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Llama 3.2 3B Instruct and Llama 3.1 70B Instruct at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.