The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite leads the LLM Stats Score 12.4 to -2.6. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 5.7x cheaper per token.

Google · Meta · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite leads the overall LLM Stats Score 12.4 to -2.6, ranking #254 overall.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 5.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 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 2.0 Flash-Lite

  • overall performance matters — it scores 12.4 and ranks #254 on LLM Stats
  • 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
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

  • cost matters — it's about 5.7x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
Google
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Meta
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
12.4
#254
-2.6
#342
Reasoning
12.5
#247
-3.6
#340
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
2 of 2
0 of 2
Input price
$0.07 / M
$0.02 / M
Output price
$0.30 / M
$0.03 / M
Context window
1,048,576
131,072

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Math
18.2#184
-2.5#311
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

2 shared

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite ($0.07/1M tokens) is 3.5x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).

For output processing, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite ($0.30/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 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
Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com
Google
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
Input tokens$0.07
Output tokens$0.30
Best providerGoogle
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.02
Output tokens$0.03
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts 1,048,576 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 Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Google
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Tue Sep 22 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 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.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite was released on 2025-02-05, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is 7 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

Feb 5, 2025

1.6 years ago

6mo newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.2 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a cutoff of 2023-12-31.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has more recent training data (up to 2024-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (2023-12-31).

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

Jun 2024

6 mo newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Provider Availability

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is available from Google. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite

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

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.02/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.04/1M
lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.03/1M
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→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite leads the LLM Stats Score 12.4 to -2.6. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is made by Google and Llama 3.1 8B 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 2.0 Flash-Lite compare to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite scores MATH: 86.8%, FACTS Grounding: 83.6%, Global-MMLU-Lite: 78.2%, MMLU-Pro: 71.6%, MMMU: 68.0%. 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 Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite cheaper than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 3.5x cheaper for input tokens. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite costs $0.07/M input and $0.30/M output via google. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs $0.02/M input and $0.03/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite supports 1.0M 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 Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (12.4 vs -2.6), context window (1.0M vs 131K), input pricing ($0.07 vs $0.02/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 Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is developed by Google and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta.

Related comparisons