DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B leads the LLM Stats Score 14.6 to -2.5. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 7.8x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · Meta · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 14.6 to -2.5, ranking #233 overall.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 7.8x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B
- overall performance matters — it scores 14.6 and ranks #233 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 7.8x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B ($0.10/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B ($0.40/1M tokens) is 13.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B has 62.6B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 782.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B is limited to 128,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B is licensed under MIT, 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.
MIT
Open weights
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B was released on 2025-01-20, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B is 6 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.
Jan 20, 2025
1.6 years ago
6mo newerJul 23, 2024
2.1 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B's cutoff date.
—
Dec 2023
Provider Availability
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B is available from DeepInfra. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.