Jamba 1.5 Mini vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Jamba 1.5 Mini and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct are closely matched at -5.7 and -2.6 on the LLM Stats Score. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 11.1x cheaper per token.
AI21 Labs · Meta · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Jamba 1.5 Mini and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -5.7 and -2.6.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Jamba 1.5 Mini wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 11.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Jamba 1.5 Mini also accepts a larger context window (256,144 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 Jamba 1.5 Mini
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024
Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 11.1x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
8 reported for Jamba 1.5 Mini · 18 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Jamba 1.5 Mini outperforms in 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, GPQA, MMLU), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU-Pro).
Jamba 1.5 Mini shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Jamba 1.5 Mini ($0.20/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.02/1M tokens).
For output processing, Jamba 1.5 Mini ($0.40/1M tokens) is 13.3x more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Jamba 1.5 Mini is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Jamba 1.5 Mini has 44.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 550.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Jamba 1.5 Mini accepts 256,144 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Jamba 1.5 Mini can generate longer responses up to 256,144 tokens, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is limited to 131,072 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Jamba 1.5 Mini is licensed under Jamba Open Model 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.
Jamba Open Model License
Open weights
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Jamba 1.5 Mini was released on 2024-08-22, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.
Jamba 1.5 Mini is 1 month newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.
Aug 22, 2024
2.1 years ago
1mo newerJul 23, 2024
2.2 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Jamba 1.5 Mini has a knowledge cutoff of 2024-03-05, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a cutoff of 2023-12-31.
Jamba 1.5 Mini has more recent training data (up to 2024-03-05), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (2023-12-31).
Mar 2024
3 mo newerDec 2023
Provider Availability
Jamba 1.5 Mini is available from Bedrock, Google. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock.
Jamba 1.5 Mini
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Jamba 1.5 Mini and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Jamba 1.5 Mini vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.