Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs o3-deep-research vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 62, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 62, o3-deep-research 24). The right pick depends on what you value most.
MetaLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct
62/100- ECI116.4
- Price$0.06 / $0.08
- Context128K
OpenAIo3-deep-research
24/100- ECI—
- Price$9.00 / $36.00
- Context200K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
62/100- ECI118.5
- Price$0.05 / $0.10
- Context131K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 62/100, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 62/100, o3-deep-research 24/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen2.5 7B Instruct on price and o3-deep-research for long inputs. 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 priceQwen2.5 7B InstructQwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.063 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.065 · o3-deep-research $15.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contexto3-deep-researcho3-deep-research 200,000 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 131,072 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputso3-deep-researchLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · o3-deep-research: Text, Images · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Qwen2.5 7B InstructPublishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
| Measure | Weight | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | o3-deep-research | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 0 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 32 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 62/100 | 24/100 | 62/100 |
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 | Llama-3.1-8B-InstructMeta | o3-deep-researchOpenAI | Qwen2.5 7B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 116.4 | — | 118.5 (best) |
| ECI rank | #162 of 165 | — | #159 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 27.0% | — | 35.5% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.7% | — | 2.5% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.06 | $9.00 | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $0.08 (best) | $36.00 | $0.10 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.065 | $15.75 | $0.063 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 17 providers | Median of 1 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 200,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 100,000 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 18 (best) | 1 | 4 |
| Released | Jul 23, 2024 | Jun 26, 2025 | Sep 19, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2023 | May 2024 | — |
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$0.76
- o3-deep-research$162.00
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct$0.70
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, o3-deep-research or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 62/100, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 62/100, o3-deep-research 24/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen2.5 7B Instruct on price and o3-deep-research for long inputs. 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, o3-deep-research or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct costs $0.06 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 17 API providers); o3-deep-research costs $9.00 input / $36.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.063 per million tokens for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct versus $0.065 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct (1× as much) and $15.75 for o3-deep-research (252× 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 116.4, o3-deep-research has not been scored yet and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct has an ECI of 118.5.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct, o3-deep-research and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
o3-deep-research has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct and 128,000 for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, o3-deep-research up to 100,000, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; o3-deep-research accepts text and images; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct accepts text. o3-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; o3-deep-research is proprietary.
Which is newer?
o3-deep-research is the newest, released Jun 26, 2025. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct came out Sep 19, 2024; Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct came out Jul 23, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, o3-deep-research May 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.
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