Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Llama 3.2 11B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is 15.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Llama 3.2 11B Instruct — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) and Llama 3.2 11B 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.
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU). Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is roughly 15.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output
Choose Llama 3.2 11B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 15.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MathVista, MGSM, MMLU, MMMU).
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct ($0.05/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 30.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct ($0.05/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Llama 3.2 11B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct uses Llama 3.2 Community License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Llama 3.2 Community License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is 18 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.2 years ago
Sep 25, 2024
1.7 years ago
1.5yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct has a cutoff of 2023-12-31.
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct has more recent training data (up to 2023-12-31), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo (2021-09-30).
Sep 2021
Dec 2023
2.3 yr newerProvider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Sambanova, Bedrock, Groq, Together, Fireworks.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Detailed Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Llama 3.2 11B Instruct.