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Gemma 3 1B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score -2.6 to -10.5.

Google · Meta · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct leads the overall LLM Stats Score -2.6 to -10.5, ranking #339 overall.

In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Gemma 3 1B

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

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

  • overall performance matters — it scores -2.6 and ranks #339 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 4 exact shared results

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemma 3 1B
Google
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Meta
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
-10.5
#367
-2.6
#339
Reasoning
-12.2
#361
-3.6
#337
Coding
-10.2
#264
-2.3
#249
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 4
4 of 4
Input price
— / M
$0.02 / M
Output price
— / M
$0.03 / M
Context window
—
131,072

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Gemma 3 1B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Math
-9.2#325
-2.5#311
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

18 reported for Gemma 3 1B · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

4 shared

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.

Wed Sep 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

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
Wed Sep 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

1.5 years ago

7mo newer
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 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 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

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 3 1B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 3 1B
✓ Preferred
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Open in Playground

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 leads the LLM Stats Score -2.6 to -10.5. 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 capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits 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 LLM Stats Score (-10.5 vs -2.6), 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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