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Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct are closely matched at -0.6 and -5.9 on the LLM Stats Score. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 10.2x cheaper per token.

Google · Meta · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -0.6 and -5.9.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is roughly 10.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 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 Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window

Choose Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

  • cost matters — it's about 10.2x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Google
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Meta
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
-0.6
#319
-5.9
#349
Reasoning
-0.3
#308
-6.6
#341
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
2 of 2
0 of 2
Input price
$0.07 / M
$0.01 / M
Output price
$0.30 / M
$0.02 / M
Context window
1,048,576
128,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Math
2.7#284
-3.3#304
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B · 15 for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

2 shared

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH), while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Sep 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B ($0.07/1M tokens) is 7.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.01/1M tokens).

For output processing, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B ($0.30/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Sep 05 2026 • llm-stats.com
Google
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Input tokens$0.07
Output tokens$0.30
Best providerGoogle
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Input tokens$0.01
Output tokens$0.02
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

4.8B diff

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B has 4.8B more parameters than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct, making it 149.2% larger.

Google
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
8.0Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
3.2Bparameters
8.0B
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
3.2B
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Google
Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Sep 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.2 3B Instruct does not.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct uses Llama 3.2 Community License.

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

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Proprietary

Closed source

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Llama 3.2 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B was released on 2024-03-15, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25.

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 6 months newer than Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Mar 15, 2024

2.5 years ago

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Sep 25, 2024

1.9 years ago

6mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-10-01, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B's training data extends to 2024-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's cutoff date.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

Oct 2024

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

—

Provider Availability

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is available from Google. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B

google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.07/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.01/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.02/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B or Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at -0.6 and -5.9. Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is made by Google and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B compare to Llama 3.2 3B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B scores XSTest: 92.6%, FLEURS: 86.4%, Natural2Code: 75.5%, WMT23: 72.6%, Video-MME: 66.2%. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct scores NIH/Multi-needle: 84.7%, ARC-C: 78.6%, GSM8k: 77.7%, IFEval: 77.4%, HellaSwag: 69.8%.

Is Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B cheaper than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 7.0x cheaper for input tokens. Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B costs $0.07/M input and $0.30/M output via google. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs $0.01/M input and $0.02/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B supports 1.0M tokens and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (-0.6 vs -5.9), context window (1.0M vs 128K), input pricing ($0.07 vs $0.01/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs Llama 3.2 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct?

Gemini 1.5 Flash 8B is developed by Google and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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