DeepSeek-R1 vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Comparing DeepSeek-R1 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
DeepSeek · Meta · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek-R1 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 32.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek-R1
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 32.0x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
0 reported for DeepSeek-R1 · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
DeepSeek-R1 and Llama 3.1 8B Instructdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($0.55/1M tokens) is 18.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($2.19/1M tokens) is 73.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-R1 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 has 663.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 8287.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 131,072 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 131,072 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-R1 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 was released on 2025-01-20, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
DeepSeek-R1 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'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's cutoff date.
—
Dec 2023
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-R1 is available from DeepSeek, DeepInfra, Together, Fireworks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.
DeepSeek-R1
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-R1 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-R1 vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.