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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Gemma 3 12B IT

Gemma 3 12B IT comes out ahead, 57 to 46 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Meta

    Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

    Released Jul 23, 2024

    46/100
    • ECI116.6
    • Price$0.152 / $0.167
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 3 12B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    57/100
    • ECI123.5
    • Price$0.05 / $0.15
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 12B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 3 12B IT is our pick

Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (46). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemma 3 12B ITCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.6
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.156 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT 131,072 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 3 12B ITLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Gemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama-3.1-8B-InstructGemma 3 12B IT
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%3645
Price25%88100
Inputs & features15%2550
Context window10%2424
Overall100%46/10057/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Gemma 3 12B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama-3.1-8B-InstructMetaGemma 3 12B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)116.6123.5 (best)
ECI rank#145 of 148#138 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions27.0%39.5% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics1.7%16.7% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.152$0.05 (best)
Output$0.167$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.156$0.075 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 9 providersMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output4,096 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers9 (best)7
ReleasedJul 23, 2024Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffDec 2023Aug 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$1.85
  • Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Gemma 3 12B IT?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (46). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Gemma 3 12B IT?

Gemma 3 12B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct costs $0.152 input / $0.167 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.075 per million tokens for Gemma 3 12B IT versus $0.156 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemma 3 12B IT scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 (#138 of 148) and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.6 (#145 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (115.6–129.3 vs 106.3–121.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 3 12B IT 39.5%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 27.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 12B IT 16.7%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 1.7%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Gemma 3 12B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 3 12B IT leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemma 3 12B IT has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Gemma 3 12B IT up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Gemma 3 12B IT accepts text and images. Gemma 3 12B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, Gemma 3 12B IT Aug 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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