Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Nova MicroWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Micro is 3.5x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Nova Micro — which is better?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct (by Meta) and Nova Micro (by Amazon) 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 70B Instruct outperforms in 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, BFCL, DROP, GPQA, IFEval, MMLU), while Nova Micro is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval). Llama 3.1 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Nova Micro is roughly 3.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose Llama 3.1 70B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 7 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Nova Micro if…

  • cost matters — it's about 3.5x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2024

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct outperforms in 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, BFCL, DROP, GPQA, IFEval, MMLU), while Nova Micro is better at 1 benchmark (HumanEval).

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Micro costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 6.7x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.03/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 1.4x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.14/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is more expensive than Nova Micro.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meta
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.20
Best providerLambda
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.14
Best providerAWS Bedrock
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

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.

Meta
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Nova Micro uses a proprietary license.

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

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Nova Micro

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Nova Micro was released on 2024-11-20.

Nova Micro is 4 months newer than Llama 3.1 70B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

Nova Micro

Nov 20, 2024

1.7 years ago

4mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Groq, Cerebras, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock, Sambanova. Nova Micro is available from Bedrock.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.35/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $0.40/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M
groq logo
Groq
Input Price:Input: $0.59/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.78/1M
cerebras logo
Cerebras
Input Price:Input: $0.60/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
sambanova logo
Sambanova
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $10.00/1M

Nova Micro

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.14/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Has open weights
Higher ARC-C score (94.8% vs 90.2%)
Higher BFCL score (84.8% vs 56.2%)
Higher DROP score (79.6% vs 79.3%)
Higher GPQA score (41.7% vs 40.0%)
Higher IFEval score (87.5% vs 87.2%)
Higher MMLU score (83.6% vs 77.6%)
Amazon
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher HumanEval score (81.1% vs 80.5%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Nova Micro side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Nova Micro
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Amazon
Nova Micro

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 70B Instruct vs Nova Micro.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct or Nova Micro?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is made by Meta and Nova Micro is made by Amazon. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Llama 3.1 70B Instruct compare to Nova Micro in benchmarks?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct scores GSM-8K (CoT): 95.1%, ARC-C: 94.8%, API-Bank: 90.0%, IFEval: 87.5%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 86.9%. Nova Micro scores GSM8k: 92.3%, ARC-C: 90.2%, Translation Set1→en COMET22: 88.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.5%, IFEval: 87.2%.

Is Llama 3.1 70B Instruct cheaper than Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is 6.7x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct costs $0.20/M input and $0.20/M output via lambda. Nova Micro costs $0.03/M input and $0.14/M output via bedrock.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Nova Micro?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Nova Micro supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Nova Micro?

Key differences include input pricing ($0.20 vs $0.03/M), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Nova Micro?

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is developed by Meta and Nova Micro is developed by Amazon.

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