Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Magistral Small 2506Which is better in 2026?

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Magistral Small 2506 — which is better?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (by Meta) and Magistral Small 2506 (by Mistral AI) 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 8B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.03/M input and $0.03/M output

Choose Magistral Small 2506 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

16.0B diff

Magistral Small 2506 has 16.0B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 200.0% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
24.0Bparameters
8.0B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
24.0B
Magistral Small 2506

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Magistral Small 2506 uses Apache 2.0.

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

Magistral Small 2506

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10.

Magistral Small 2506 is 11 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 10, 2025

1.1 years ago

10mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Magistral Small 2506 has a cutoff of 2025-06-01.

Magistral Small 2506 has more recent training data (up to 2025-06-01), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (2023-12-31).

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 2025

1.5 yr newer

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Mistral AI
Higher GPQA score (68.2% vs 30.4%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Magistral Small 2506 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Magistral Small 2506
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Magistral Small 2506.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Magistral Small 2506?

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is made by Meta and Magistral Small 2506 is made by Mistral AI. 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 Magistral Small 2506 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%. Magistral Small 2506 scores AIME 2024: 70.7%, GPQA: 68.2%, AIME 2025: 62.8%, LiveCodeBench: 51.3%.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Magistral Small 2506?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K tokens and Magistral Small 2506 supports an unknown number of 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 Magistral Small 2506?

Key differences include licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Magistral Small 2506?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta and Magistral Small 2506 is developed by Mistral AI.

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