Model Comparison

GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 60.0x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MGSM).

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs less

For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 50.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.01/1M tokens).

For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 75.0x more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).

In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Llama 3.2 3B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerAzure
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Input tokens$0.01
Output tokens$0.02
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.

OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Input16,385 tokens
Output4,096 tokens
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Thu Mar 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct uses Llama 3.2 Community License.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

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 3B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25.

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 18 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.0 years ago

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Sep 25, 2024

1.5 years ago

1.5yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Llama 3.2 3B Instruct's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

—

Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
openai logo
OpenAI
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.01/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.02/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Higher MMLU score (69.8% vs 63.4%)
Meta
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (32.8% vs 30.8%)
Higher MATH score (48.0% vs 43.1%)
Higher MGSM score (58.2% vs 56.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Meta
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct

Llama 3.2 3B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. GPT-3.5 Turbo is made by OpenAI and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
GPT-3.5 Turbo scores DROP: 70.2%, MMLU: 69.8%, HumanEval: 68.0%, MGSM: 56.3%, MATH: 43.1%. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct scores NIH/Multi-needle: 84.7%, ARC-C: 78.6%, GSM8k: 77.7%, IFEval: 77.4%, HellaSwag: 69.8%.
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is 50.0x cheaper for input tokens. GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output via azure. Llama 3.2 3B Instruct costs $0.01/M input and $0.02/M output via deepinfra.
GPT-3.5 Turbo supports 16K tokens and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (16K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.01/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Llama 3.2 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
GPT-3.5 Turbo is developed by OpenAI and Llama 3.2 3B Instruct is developed by Meta.