Granite 3.1 8B Instruct vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct (2024) and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 (2025) are compact production models from IBM Research and NVIDIA AI. Granite 3.1 8B Instruct ships a 128K-token context window, while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 ships a 4K-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Granite 3.1 8B Instruct | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | Long context | Vision |
| Context window | 128K | 4K |
| Cheapest output | - | - |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Granite 3.1 8B Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Granite 3.1 8B Instruct for Long context.
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 for Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output prices on this page.
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Granite 3.1 8B Instruct and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 and Granite 3.1 8B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-12-18 | 2025-03-01 |
| Context window | 128K | 4K |
| Parameters | 8B | 8B |
| Architecture | Dense decoder-only transformer: 40 layers, 4096 embed, GQA 32/8 heads, RoPE, SwiGLU | decoder only |
| License | Open Source | 1 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Granite 3.1 8B Instruct | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | - |
| Output price | - | - |
| Providers | - |
Pricing not yet sourced for either model.
Capabilities
| Capability | Granite 3.1 8B Instruct | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 and multimodal input: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1. Both models share the core language-model surface, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Granite 3.1 8B Instruct has no token price sourced yet and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 0 tracked routes versus 1. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Granite 3.1 8B Instruct when long-context analysis and larger context windows are central to the workload. Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 when vision-heavy evaluation and broader provider choice are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Granite 3.1 8B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1?
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct supports 128K tokens, while Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 supports 4K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Granite 3.1 8B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 open source?
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct is listed under Open Source. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 is listed under 1. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Granite 3.1 8B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Granite 3.1 8B Instruct or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Granite 3.1 8B Instruct and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1?
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct is available on the tracked providers still being sourced. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 is available on NVIDIA NIM. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Granite 3.1 8B Instruct over Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1?
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct fits 32x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1 for tighter calls. If your workload also depends on long-context analysis, start with Granite 3.1 8B Instruct; if it depends on vision-heavy evaluation, run the same evaluation with Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano VL 8B v1.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-01. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.