DeepSeek V3 Base vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
DeepSeek V3 Base (2024) and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (2024) are compact production models from DeepSeek and AI at Meta. DeepSeek V3 Base ships a 128k-token context window, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
DeepSeek V3 Base is safer overall; choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek V3 Base | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | general production evaluation | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Long context | RAG, Long context, and Classification |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | - | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 11 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3 Base for Long context.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 405B Instruct for RAG, Long context, and Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
DeepSeek V3 Base
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
$2,520
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for DeepSeek V3 Base and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama 3.1 405B Instruct and DeepSeek V3 Base; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-12-26 | 2024-07-23 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 671B total, 37B active (MoE) | 405B |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Llama 3 Community |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Weights | Unknown | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-07 | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek V3 Base | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek V3 Base | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.