ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Nova Micro

Nova Micro comes out ahead, 62 to 56 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. Our pick

    Amazon

    Nova Micro

    Released Dec 3, 2024

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.035 / $0.14
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Nova Micro

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Nova Micro is our pick

Nova Micro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56). It leads on price. 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 priceNova MicroNova Micro $0.061 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.156 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 · Nova Micro 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Nova Micro: Text
  • Self-hostingLlama-3.1-8B-InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama-3.1-8B-InstructNova Micro
Price50%88100
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%2424
Overall100%56/10062/100

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 Nova Micro specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama-3.1-8B-InstructMetaNova MicroAmazon
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$0.035 (best)
Output$0.167$0.14 (best)
Cached input—$0.0088
Blended (3:1)$0.156$0.061 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 9 providersOfficial Amazon Bedrock API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens128,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens10,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—amazon.nova-micro-v1:0
API providers9 (best)3
ReleasedJul 23, 2024Dec 3, 2024
Knowledge cutoffDec 2023Oct 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
  • Nova Micro$0.63
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (56). It leads on price. 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 or Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is cheaper at $0.035 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). 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 $0.061 per million tokens for Nova Micro versus $0.156 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (2.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has an ECI of 116.6 and Nova Micro has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Nova Micro 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?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Nova Micro share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Nova Micro up to 10,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Nova Micro accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Nova Micro is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Nova Micro is the newest, released Dec 3, 2024. Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, Nova Micro Oct 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

Related comparisons