Hermes 3 405B Instruct vs Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B comes out ahead, 51 to 29 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Nous ResearchHermes 3 405B Instruct
29/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context131K
- Our pickNous Research
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B
51/100- ECI—
- Price$0.14 / $0.14
- Context8K
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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 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on price and inputs & features. Hermes 3 405B Instruct wins on 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 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextHermes 3 405B InstructHermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B 8,192 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsHermes 3 405B Instruct: Text · Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Hermes 3 405B Instruct | Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 48 | 87 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 29/100 | 51/100 |
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 3 405B InstructNous Research | Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8BNous Research |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.14 (best) |
| Output | $1.00 | $0.14 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.00 | $0.14 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenLlama 3 Community License |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 5 (best) | 2 |
| Released | Aug 16, 2024 | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 31, 2023 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
- Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B$1.68
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B?
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). It leads on price and inputs & features. Hermes 3 405B Instruct wins on 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 3 405B Instruct or Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B?
Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B is cheaper at $0.14 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Hermes 3 405B Instruct costs $1.00 input / $1.00 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 $1.00 for Hermes 3 405B Instruct (7.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Hermes 3 405B Instruct has not been scored yet and Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Hermes 3 405B Instruct does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 8,192 for Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B. Maximum output per response: Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384, Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct accepts text; Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B 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 3 405B Instruct is the newest, released Aug 16, 2024. Hermes 2 Pro Llama 3 8B came out Apr 30, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 2023.
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.
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