DeepSeek V3.1 vs Llama 3 8B Instruct
DeepSeek V3.1 (2025) and Llama 3 8B Instruct (2024) are compact production models from DeepSeek and AI at Meta. DeepSeek V3.1 ships a 64k-token context window, while Llama 3 8B Instruct ships a 8k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek V3.1 leads by 42.8 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Llama 3 8B Instruct is ~1250% cheaper at $0.02/1M; pay for DeepSeek V3.1 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek V3.1 | Llama 3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and provider-routed production | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, Agents, and Vision | Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use |
| Context window | 64k | 8k |
| Cheapest output | $1/1M tokens | $0.05/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 8 tracked | 17 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 1 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek V3.1 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 42.8 points.
- DeepSeek V3.1 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- DeepSeek V3.1 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3.1 for Coding, Agents, and Vision.
- Llama 3 8B Instruct has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.05/1M tokens.
- Llama 3 8B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3 8B Instruct for Coding, Classification, and JSON / Tool use.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
DeepSeek V3.1
$466
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI
Llama 3 8B Instruct
$28.50
Cheapest tracked route/tier: DeepInfra
Estimated monthly gap: $438. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on AWS Bedrock, Fireworks AI, and NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3 8B Instruct is $0.95/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, Fireworks AI, and NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek V3.1 is $0.95/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- DeepSeek V3.1 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-08-21 | 2024-04-18 |
| Context window | 64k | 8k |
| Parameters | 671B total, 37B active (MoE) | 8B |
| 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 | - | 2023-03 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek V3.1 | Llama 3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.27/1M tokens | $0.02/1M tokens |
| Output price | $1/1M tokens | $0.05/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek V3.1 | Llama 3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Llama 3 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 83.3 | 40.5 |
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.