Model Comparison

Gemma 3 1B vs Llama 3.1 8B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 1B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 3 1B (by Google) and Llama 3.1 8B 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.

Gemma 3 1B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, IFEval, MMLU-Pro). Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3 1B if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Gemma 3 1B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, IFEval, MMLU-Pro).

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

7.0B diff

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has 7.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 1B, making it 700.0% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 1B
1.0Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
1.0B
Gemma 3 1B
8.0B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Google
Gemma 3 1B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 1B is licensed under Gemma, 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.

Gemma 3 1B

Gemma

Open weights

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 1B was released on 2025-03-12, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Gemma 3 1B is 8 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Gemma 3 1B

Mar 12, 2025

1.3 years ago

7mo newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Gemma 3 1B'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 Gemma 3 1B's cutoff date.

Gemma 3 1B

—

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Meta
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (30.4% vs 19.2%)
Higher HumanEval score (72.6% vs 41.5%)
Higher IFEval score (80.4% vs 80.2%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (48.3% vs 14.7%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 1B
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 1B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3 1B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 1B is made by Google and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 3 1B compare to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 1B scores IFEval: 80.2%, GSM8k: 62.8%, Natural2Code: 56.0%, MATH: 48.0%, HumanEval: 41.5%. 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%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 1B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemma 3 1B supports an unknown number of 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 Gemma 3 1B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (Gemma vs Llama 3.1 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 3 1B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemma 3 1B is developed by Google and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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