Model Comparison
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Llama 3.3 70B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 4.5x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct — which is better?
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (by Meta) and Llama 3.3 70B 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.
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MBPP EvalPlus, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (IFEval, MATH). Llama 3.1 405B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is roughly 4.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 7 shared benchmarks
Choose Llama 3.3 70B Instruct if…
- cost matters — it's about 4.5x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MBPP EvalPlus, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (IFEval, MATH).
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 4.5x more expensive than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ($0.89/1M tokens) is 4.5x more expensive than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is more expensive than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has 335.0B more parameters than Llama 3.3 70B Instruct, making it 478.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 128,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct uses Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Llama 3.1 Community License
Open weights
Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct was released on 2024-12-06.
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 5 months newer than Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.
Jul 23, 2024
2.0 years ago
Dec 6, 2024
1.7 years ago
4mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Fireworks, Bedrock, Together, Hyperbolic, Google, Replicate. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Bedrock, Together, Fireworks.
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and Llama 3.3 70B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
| Feature | | |
|---|
FAQ
Common questions about Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct.