Granite Guardian 3.0 8B vs Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite
Granite Guardian 3.0 8B (2025) and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite (2025) are compact production models from IBM Research and AI at Meta. Both ship a 8k-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. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is safer overall; choose Granite Guardian 3.0 8B when provider fit matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Granite Guardian 3.0 8B | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | general production evaluation | tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Classification | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use |
| Context window | 8k | 8k |
| Cheapest output | - | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Local decision data tags Granite Guardian 3.0 8B for Classification.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite for Agents, 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.
Granite Guardian 3.0 8B
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Granite Guardian 3.0 8B and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite adds JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite and Granite Guardian 3.0 8B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-03-01 | 2025-07-15 |
| Context window | 8k | 8k |
| Parameters | 8B | 8B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Llama 3 Community |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | 2024-03 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Granite Guardian 3.0 8B | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | - | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Granite Guardian 3.0 8B | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| 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: 2026-07-09. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.