Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B vs Hermes 4 405B
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B comes out ahead, 51 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Nous ResearchHermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B
51/100- ECI—
- Price$0.14 / $0.14
- Context8K
- Nous Research
Hermes 4 405B
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is our pick
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price. Hermes 4 405B wins on inputs & features 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 priceHermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8BHermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B $0.14 · Hermes 4 405B $1.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextHermes 4 405BHermes 4 405B 131,072 · Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B 8,192 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsHermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B: Text · Hermes 4 405B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B | Hermes 4 405B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 87 | 40 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 51/100 | 35/100 |
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 | Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8BNous Research | Hermes 4 405BNous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.14 (best) | $1.00 |
| Output | $0.14 (best) | $3.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.14 (best) | $1.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 8,192 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 117,964 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenLlama 3 Community License | Open |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 2 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Apr 30, 2024 | Aug 26, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Aug 31, 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B$1.68
- Hermes 4 405B$16.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B or Hermes 4 405B?
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Hermes 4 405B (35). It leads on price. Hermes 4 405B wins on inputs & features 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, Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B or Hermes 4 405B?
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is cheaper at $0.14 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Hermes 4 405B costs $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.14 per million tokens for Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B versus $1.50 for Hermes 4 405B (11× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B has not been scored yet and Hermes 4 405B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B and Hermes 4 405B 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?
Hermes 4 405B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 8,192 for Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B. Maximum output per response: Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B up to 8,192, Hermes 4 405B up to 117,964 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B accepts text; Hermes 4 405B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Llama 3 Community License), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Hermes 4 405B is the newest, released Aug 26, 2025. Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B came out Apr 30, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 2024.
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.
Related comparisons
- Add solar-miniThree-way comparison
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B vs solar-miniUpstage
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B vs Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-InstructMeta
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B vs Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B vs Nova LiteAmazon
- Hermes 4 405B vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen)
- Hermes 4 405B vs Apertus 70BSwiss AI
