Apertus 8B vs Rnj-1 Instruct
Apertus 8B comes out ahead, 54 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Swiss AI
Apertus 8B
54/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.20
- Context66K
Essential AI
Rnj-1 Instruct
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Apertus 8B is our pick
Apertus 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 54/100 against Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceApertus 8BApertus 8B $0.125 · Rnj-1 Instruct $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextApertus 8BApertus 8B 65,536 · Rnj-1 Instruct 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsApertus 8B: Text · Rnj-1 Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Apertus 8B | Rnj-1 Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 85 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 12 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 54/100 | 50/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Apertus 8BSwiss AI | Rnj-1 InstructEssential AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.10 (best) | $0.15 |
| Output | $0.20 | $0.15 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.125 (best) | $0.15 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 65,536 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Sep 2, 2025 | Dec 4, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Apertus 8B$1.40
- Rnj-1 Instruct$1.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Apertus 8B or Rnj-1 Instruct?
Apertus 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 54/100 against Rnj-1 Instruct (50). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Apertus 8B or Rnj-1 Instruct?
Apertus 8B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Rnj-1 Instruct costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.125 per million tokens for Apertus 8B versus $0.15 for Rnj-1 Instruct (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Apertus 8B has not been scored yet and Rnj-1 Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Apertus 8B and Rnj-1 Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Apertus 8B has the largest context window at 65,536 tokens, against 32,768 for Rnj-1 Instruct. Maximum output per response: Apertus 8B up to 8,192, Rnj-1 Instruct up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Apertus 8B accepts text; Rnj-1 Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0 and Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Rnj-1 Instruct is the newest, released Dec 4, 2025. Apertus 8B came out Sep 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Apertus 8B Sep 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
