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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Llama-3.2-3B vs Pixtral 12B

Pixtral 12B comes out ahead, 64 to 56 and 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Meta

    Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

    Released Jul 23, 2024

    56/100
    • ECI116.6
    • Price$0.152 / $0.167
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

  2. Meta

    Llama-3.2-3B

    Released Sep 25, 2024

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.335
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.2-3B
  3. Our pick

    Mistral AI

    Pixtral 12B

    Released Sep 1, 2024

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Pixtral 12B
01 — Verdict

Pixtral 12B is our pick

Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56) and Llama-3.2-3B (49). It leads on inputs & features. 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 pricePixtral 12BPixtral 12B $0.15 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.156 · Llama-3.2-3B $0.159 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama-3.2-3BLlama-3.2-3B 131,072 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 · Pixtral 12B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsPixtral 12BLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Llama-3.2-3B: Text · Pixtral 12B: 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-InstructLlama-3.2-3BPixtral 12B
Price50%888889
Inputs & features30%25050
Context window20%242424
Overall100%56/10049/10064/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

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 Llama-3.2-3B vs Pixtral 12B specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama-3.1-8B-InstructMetaLlama-3.2-3BMetaPixtral 12BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)116.6——
ECI rank#145 of 148——
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions27.0%——
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics1.7%——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.152$0.10 (best)$0.15
Output$0.167$0.335$0.15 (best)
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.156$0.159$0.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 9 providersMedian of 3 providersOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens8,192 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingYesNoYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenLlama 3.2 Community LicenseOpen
API model ID——pixtral-12b
API providers9 (best)34
ReleasedJul 23, 2024Sep 25, 2024Sep 1, 2024
Knowledge cutoffDec 2023Dec 2023Sep 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
  • Llama-3.2-3B$1.67
  • Pixtral 12B$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Llama-3.2-3B or Pixtral 12B?

Pixtral 12B is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56) and Llama-3.2-3B (49). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Llama-3.2-3B or Pixtral 12B?

Pixtral 12B is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct costs $0.152 input / $0.167 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers); Llama-3.2-3B costs $0.10 input / $0.335 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for Pixtral 12B versus $0.156 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (1× as much) and $0.159 for Llama-3.2-3B (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has an ECI of 116.6, Llama-3.2-3B has not been scored yet and Pixtral 12B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, Llama-3.2-3B and Pixtral 12B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Llama-3.2-3B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Llama-3.2-3B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and 128,000 for Pixtral 12B. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Llama-3.2-3B up to 8,192, Pixtral 12B up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Llama-3.2-3B accepts text; Pixtral 12B accepts text and images. Pixtral 12B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, all three publish their weights (Llama 3.2 Community License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Llama-3.2-3B is the newest, released Sep 25, 2024. Pixtral 12B came out Sep 1, 2024; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, Llama-3.2-3B Dec 2023, Pixtral 12B Sep 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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