Model Comparison

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct vs Phi-3.5-mini-instructWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is 2.0x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct — which is better?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (by Meta) and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct (by Microsoft) 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 3.3 70B Instruct outperforms in 6 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MGSM, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is roughly 2.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose Llama 3.3 70B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2024

Choose Phi-3.5-mini-instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 2.0x cheaper per token

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct outperforms in 6 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MGSM, MMLU, MMLU-Pro), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Llama 3.3 70B 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

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct ($0.20/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is more expensive than Phi-3.5-mini-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 3.3 70B Instruct
Input tokens$0.20
Output tokens$0.20
Best providerLambda
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerAzure
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

66.2B diff

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct has 66.2B more parameters than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct, making it 1742.1% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
70.0Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
3.8Bparameters
70.0B
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
3.8B
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

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 3.3 70B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct uses MIT.

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

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement

Open weights

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct was released on 2024-12-06, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct was released on 2024-08-23.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is 4 months newer than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

Dec 6, 2024

1.6 years ago

3mo newer
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Aug 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

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 3.3 70B Instruct is available from Lambda, DeepInfra, Hyperbolic, Groq, Sambanova, Cerebras, Bedrock, Together, Fireworks. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is available from Azure.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct

lambda logo
Lambda
Input Price:Input: $0.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.20/1M
deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.23/1MOutput 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: $7.90/1M
sambanova logo
Sambanova
Input Price:Input: $0.60/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
cerebras logo
Cerebras
Input Price:Input: $0.70/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.80/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.72/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.72/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $0.88/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.88/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

azure logo
Azure
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Higher GPQA score (50.5% vs 30.4%)
Higher HumanEval score (88.4% vs 62.8%)
Higher MATH score (77.0% vs 48.5%)
Higher MGSM score (91.1% vs 47.9%)
Higher MMLU score (86.0% vs 69.0%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (68.9% vs 47.4%)
Microsoft
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.3 70B Instruct vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Which is better, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct or Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is made by Meta and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Llama 3.3 70B Instruct compare to Phi-3.5-mini-instruct in benchmarks?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct scores IFEval: 92.1%, MGSM: 91.1%, HumanEval: 88.4%, MBPP EvalPlus: 87.6%, MMLU: 86.0%. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct scores GSM8k: 86.2%, ARC-C: 84.6%, RULER: 84.1%, PIQA: 81.0%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%.

Is Llama 3.3 70B Instruct cheaper than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct costs $0.20/M input and $0.20/M output via lambda. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.10/M output via azure.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct 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 3.3 70B Instruct and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Key differences include input pricing ($0.20 vs $0.10/M), licensing (Llama 3.3 Community License Agreement vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is developed by Meta and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

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