Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Pixtral-12BWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 5.0x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Pixtral-12B — which is better?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (by Meta) and Pixtral-12B (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 3 benchmarks (HumanEval, IFEval, MMLU), while Pixtral-12B is better at 0 benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is roughly 5.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • cost matters — it's about 5.0x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window

Choose Pixtral-12B if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct outperforms in 3 benchmarks (HumanEval, IFEval, MMLU), while Pixtral-12B is better at 0 benchmarks.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 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 5.0x cheaper than Pixtral-12B ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct ($0.03/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Pixtral-12B ($0.15/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Pixtral-12B 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
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.03
Best providerLambda
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$0.15
Best providerMistral
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

4.4B diff

Pixtral-12B has 4.4B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 55.0% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
12.4Bparameters
8.0B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
12.4B
Pixtral-12B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Pixtral-12B's 128,000 tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Pixtral-12B is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Pixtral-12B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 8B Instruct does not.

Pixtral-12B 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

Pixtral-12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Pixtral-12B 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

Pixtral-12B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23, while Pixtral-12B was released on 2024-09-17.

Pixtral-12B is 2 months newer than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

Pixtral-12B

Sep 17, 2024

1.9 years ago

1mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Pixtral-12B'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 Pixtral-12B's cutoff date.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Pixtral-12B

—

Provider Availability

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Hyperbolic, Together, Fireworks, Bedrock. Pixtral-12B is available from Mistral AI.

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

Pixtral-12B

mistral logo
Mistral
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.15/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher HumanEval score (72.6% vs 72.0%)
Higher IFEval score (80.4% vs 61.3%)
Higher MMLU score (69.4% vs 69.2%)
Mistral AI
Supports multimodal inputs

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Pixtral-12B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Pixtral-12B
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Mistral AI
Pixtral-12B

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Pixtral-12B.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Pixtral-12B?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is made by Meta and Pixtral-12B 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 Pixtral-12B 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%. Pixtral-12B scores DocVQA: 90.7%, ChartQA: 81.8%, VQAv2: 78.6%, MT-Bench: 76.8%, HumanEval: 72.0%.

Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct cheaper than Pixtral-12B?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct costs $0.03/M input and $0.03/M output via lambda. Pixtral-12B costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via mistral.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Pixtral-12B?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K tokens and Pixtral-12B 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 8B Instruct and Pixtral-12B?

Key differences include context window (131K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.03 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), 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 Pixtral-12B?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta and Pixtral-12B is developed by Mistral AI.

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