Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct
Analysis Summary
Llama 3 8B Instruct is Meta's smallest Llama 3 model, released in April 2024. At $0.14 per million tokens for both input and output, it is among the cheapest options available, but its benchmark scores reflect the constraints of an 8B parameter model with an 8K context window.
For businesses, it is only suitable for the simplest tasks: short-form text generation, basic classification, or lightweight summarisation where cost is the primary concern. Reasoning, coding, and instruction-following performance are all weak relative to current standards, and the lack of tool use or vision support limits its applicability.
The Llama 3.1 8B released shortly after offers a 131K context window and tool use support at a similar price, making this version largely superseded. Teams with very tight budgets and simple use cases may still find it functional, but newer alternatives are preferable.
Assessed June 17, 2026
Editorial notes
Llama 3 8B Instruct from Meta is a small open-weight model with very low pricing, suited only to simple text tasks; its reasoning, coding, and context window are all limited.
Rankings consider pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, and real-world applicability and are refreshed as new models launch. Feedback?
Performance Profile
How Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct compares
Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct ranks #371 of 380 AI models we track for overall intelligence. Its 8K-token context window is larger than 25% of the models we list. At $0.14 per million input tokens it is cheaper than 58% of comparable models.
About Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct
Meta's latest class of model (Llama 3) launched with a variety of sizes & flavors. This 8B instruct-tuned version was optimized for high quality dialogue usecases. It has demonstrated strong..
Architecture Detail
| Instruct Type | llama3 |
Benchmark Scores
Intelligence
Technical
Content
Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis and Hugging Face
How does Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct stack up?
Compare side-by-side with other emerging models.
Model Information
| OpenRouter ID |
meta-llama/llama-3-8b-instruct
|
| Provider | meta-llama |
| Model Family | Llama 3 |
| Release Date | April 18, 2024 |
| Context Length | 8,192 tokens |
| Status | Active |
Pricing
| Token Type | Cost per 1M tokens | Cost per 1K tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $0.14 | $0.000140 |
| Output | $0.14 | $0.000140 |
Live Performance
Live endpoint metrics, refreshed every 30 minutes.
External Resources
Frequently asked questions about Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct
How much does Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct cost?
Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct costs $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.14 per million output tokens.
What is the context window of Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct?
Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct has a context window of 8,192 tokens (8K).
Who created Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct?
Meta: Llama 3 8B Instruct is developed by Meta and was released on April 18, 2024.
