Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.5 vs Llama 3.1 8B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 333.3x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude Opus 4.5 vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct — which is better?

Claude Opus 4.5 (by Anthropic) and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (by Meta) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 333.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Claude Opus 4.5 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Claude Opus 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2025

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 333.3x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 06 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 166.7x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 833.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.5 is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 06 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.03
Best providerLambda
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude Opus 4.5 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Input200,000 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Sat Jun 06 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude Opus 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.

Claude Opus 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Claude Opus 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude Opus 4.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct uses Llama 3.1 Community License.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Claude Opus 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Claude Opus 4.5 is 16 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Claude Opus 4.5

Nov 24, 2025

6 months ago

1.3yr newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Claude Opus 4.5 has a knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a cutoff of 2023-12-31.

Claude Opus 4.5 has more recent training data (up to 2025-03-31), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (2023-12-31).

Claude Opus 4.5

Mar 2025

1.3 yr newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Provider Availability

Claude Opus 4.5 is available from Anthropic. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.

Claude Opus 4.5

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $25.00/1M

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.03/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.05/1M
groq logo
Groq
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.08/1M
sambanova logo
Sambanova
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
cerebras logo
Cerebras
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.22/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.22/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (87.0% vs 30.4%)
Meta
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.5
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Claude Opus 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.5 is made by Anthropic and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude Opus 4.5 compare to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct in benchmarks?

Claude Opus 4.5 scores Tau2 Telecom: 98.2%, MMMLU: 90.8%, Tau2 Retail: 88.9%, GPQA: 87.0%, SWE-Bench Verified: 80.9%. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct scores GSM-8K (CoT): 84.5%, ARC-C: 83.4%, API-Bank: 82.6%, IFEval: 80.4%, BFCL: 76.1%.

Is Claude Opus 4.5 cheaper than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 166.7x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs $0.03/M input and $0.03/M output via lambda.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Opus 4.5 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Claude Opus 4.5 supports 200K tokens and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude Opus 4.5 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Key differences include context window (200K vs 131K), input pricing ($5.00 vs $0.03/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Llama 3.1 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Opus 4.5 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Claude Opus 4.5 is developed by Anthropic and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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