GPT-4 Turbo vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
GPT-4 Turbo leads the LLM Stats Score 9.2 to -2.4. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 500.0x cheaper per token.
OpenAI · Meta · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GPT-4 Turbo leads the overall LLM Stats Score 9.2 to -2.4, ranking #256 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, GPT-4 Turbo wins 4; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 500.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 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 GPT-4 Turbo
- overall performance matters — it scores 9.2 and ranks #256 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
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 500.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2024
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
6 reported for GPT-4 Turbo · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
GPT-4 Turbo outperforms in 4 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MMLU), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
GPT-4 Turbo significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-4 Turbo ($10.00/1M tokens) is 333.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-4 Turbo ($30.00/1M tokens) is 1000.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-4 Turbo is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to GPT-4 Turbo's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while GPT-4 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-4 Turbo 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.
Proprietary
Closed source
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-4 Turbo was released on 2024-04-09, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 4 months newer than GPT-4 Turbo.
Apr 9, 2024
2.4 years ago
Jul 23, 2024
2.1 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Both models have the same knowledge cutoff date of 2023-12-31.
They should have similar awareness of historical events and information up to this date.
Dec 2023
Dec 2023
Provider Availability
GPT-4 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.
GPT-4 Turbo
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-4 Turbo and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GPT-4 Turbo vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.