Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Llama 4 Scout

Llama 4 Scout significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 4.5x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 4 Scout is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Llama 4 Scout significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat May 02 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens) is 2.7x cheaper than Llama 4 Scout ($0.08/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens) is 10.0x cheaper than Llama 4 Scout ($0.30/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Llama 4 Scout is more expensive than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat May 02 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.03
Best providerLambda
Meta
Llama 4 Scout
Input tokens$0.08
Output tokens$0.30
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

101.0B diff

Llama 4 Scout has 101.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 1262.5% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Meta
Llama 4 Scout
109.0Bparameters
8.0B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
109.0B
Llama 4 Scout

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Llama 4 Scout accepts 10,000,000 input tokens compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's 131,072 tokens. Llama 4 Scout can generate longer responses up to 10,000,000 tokens, while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is limited to 131,072 tokens.

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Meta
Llama 4 Scout
Input10,000,000 tokens
Output10,000,000 tokens
Sat May 02 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Llama 4 Scout supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.

Llama 4 Scout can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 4 Scout

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Llama 4 Scout uses Llama 4 Community License Agreement.

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

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Llama 4 Scout

Llama 4 Community License Agreement

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Llama 4 Scout was released on 2025-04-05.

Llama 4 Scout is 9 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.8 years ago

Llama 4 Scout

Apr 5, 2025

1.1 years ago

8mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Llama 4 Scout's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Llama 4 Scout's cutoff date.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Llama 4 Scout

—

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock. Llama 4 Scout is available from DeepInfra, Lambda, Novita, Groq, Fireworks, Together.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.03/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.05/1M
groq logo
Groq
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.08/1M
sambanova logo
Sambanova
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
cerebras logo
Cerebras
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.22/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.22/1M

Llama 4 Scout

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.08/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M
lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.08/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.30/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M
groq logo
Groq
Input Price:Input: $0.11/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.34/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.18/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.59/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Meta
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Meta
Larger context window (10,000,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (57.2% vs 30.4%)
Higher MMLU score (79.6% vs 69.4%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (74.3% vs 48.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Meta
Llama 4 Scout

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Llama 4 Scout.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Llama 4 Scout?

Llama 4 Scout significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is made by Meta and Llama 4 Scout is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Llama 3.1 8B Instruct compare to Llama 4 Scout in benchmarks?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct scores GSM-8K (CoT): 84.5%, ARC-C: 83.4%, API-Bank: 82.6%, IFEval: 80.4%, BFCL: 76.1%. Llama 4 Scout scores DocVQA: 94.4%, MGSM: 90.6%, ChartQA: 88.8%, MMLU: 79.6%, MMLU-Pro: 74.3%.

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct cheaper than Llama 4 Scout?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 2.7x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs $0.03/M input and $0.03/M output via lambda. Llama 4 Scout costs $0.08/M input and $0.30/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Llama 4 Scout?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K tokens and Llama 4 Scout supports 10.0M 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 8B Instruct and Llama 4 Scout?

Key differences include context window (131K vs 10.0M), input pricing ($0.03 vs $0.08/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Llama 4 Community License Agreement). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.