Model Comparison
Gemini 1.5 Flash vs Llama 3.3 70B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 1.3x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Gemini 1.5 Flash vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct — which is better?
Gemini 1.5 Flash (by Google) and Llama 3.3 70B 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.
Gemini 1.5 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH), while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (HumanEval, MGSM, MMLU, MMLU-Pro). Llama 3.3 70B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is roughly 1.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Gemini 1.5 Flash also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Gemini 1.5 Flash if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
Choose Llama 3.3 70B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 6 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.3x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Gemini 1.5 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH), while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (HumanEval, MGSM, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Gemini 1.5 Flash ($0.15/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Gemini 1.5 Flash ($0.60/1M tokens) is 3.0x more expensive than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Gemini 1.5 Flash is more expensive than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Gemini 1.5 Flash accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Llama 3.3 70B Instruct's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Gemini 1.5 Flash is limited to 8,192 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Gemini 1.5 Flash supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.3 70B Instruct does not.
Gemini 1.5 Flash can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Gemini 1.5 Flash
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Gemini 1.5 Flash is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct uses Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Gemini 1.5 Flash was released on 2024-05-01, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct was released on 2024-12-06.
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 7 months newer than Gemini 1.5 Flash.
May 1, 2024
2.1 years ago
Dec 6, 2024
1.5 years ago
7mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Gemini 1.5 Flash has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-11-01, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Gemini 1.5 Flash's training data extends to 2023-11-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Llama 3.3 70B Instruct's cutoff date.
Nov 2023
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Provider Availability
Gemini 1.5 Flash is available from Google. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Bedrock, Together, Fireworks.
Gemini 1.5 Flash
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Gemini 1.5 Flash vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct.