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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs DeepSeek V3 0324

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 62 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

    Released Apr 5, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI129.7
    • Price$0.225 / $0.69
    • Context10M
    Full specs Remove Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is our pick

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V3 0324Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7
  • Lowest priceLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct $0.341 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 10,000,000 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct: Text, Images · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructDeepSeek V3 0324
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5260
Price25%7268
Inputs & features15%5025
Context window10%10028
Overall100%62/10054/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct vs DeepSeek V3 0324 specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructMetaDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)129.7135.9 (best)
ECI rank#126 of 148#114 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions51.8%67.6% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics7.8%37.8% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.225 (best)$0.24
Output$0.69 (best)$0.90
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.341 (best)$0.405
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersMedian of 5 providers
Limits
Context window10,000,000 tokens (best)163,840 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens163,840 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers45 (best)
ReleasedApr 5, 2025Mar 24, 2025
Knowledge cutoffAug 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 4 Scout 17B Instruct$3.63
  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct or DeepSeek V3 0324?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct or DeepSeek V3 0324?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is cheaper at $0.225 input / $0.69 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.341 per million tokens for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct versus $0.405 for DeepSeek V3 0324 (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V3 0324 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148) and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7 (#126 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (132.4–138.0 vs 124.8–131.4), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 51.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 7.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct and DeepSeek V3 0324 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3 0324 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?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has the largest context window at 10,000,000 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324. Maximum output per response: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct up to 16,384, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct accepts text and images; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text. Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 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?

Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 5, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 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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