Grok 4 vs Llama 3 70B Instruct
Grok 4 (2026) and Llama 3 70B Instruct (2024) are frontier reasoning models from xAI and AI at Meta. Grok 4 ships a 256k-token context window, while Llama 3 70B Instruct ships a 8K-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Grok 4 leads by 29.6 pts. On pricing, Llama 3 70B Instruct costs $0.4/1M input tokens versus $3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama 3 70B Instruct is ~650% cheaper at $0.4/1M; pay for Grok 4 only for coding workflow support.
Specs
| Released | 2026-03-01 | 2024-04-18 |
| Context window | 256k | 8K |
| Parameters | — | 70B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Proprietary | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Grok 4 | Llama 3 70B Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3/1M tokens | $0.4/1M tokens |
| Output price | $15/1M tokens | $0.4/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Grok 4 | Llama 3 70B Instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Grok 4 | Llama 3 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 87.0 | 57.4 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has Grok 4 at 87 and Llama 3 70B Instruct at 57.4, with Grok 4 ahead by 29.6 points. The largest visible gap is 29.6 points on MMLU PRO, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on multimodal input: Grok 4, reasoning mode: Grok 4, and code execution: Grok 4. Both models share structured outputs, 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.
For cost, Grok 4 lists $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens, while Llama 3 70B Instruct lists $0.4/1M input and $0.4/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 3 70B Instruct lower by about $6.2 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 18, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Grok 4 when coding workflow support and larger context windows are central to the workload. Choose Llama 3 70B Instruct when provider fit, lower input-token cost, 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.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Grok 4 or Llama 3 70B Instruct?
Grok 4 supports 256k tokens, while Llama 3 70B Instruct supports 8K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Grok 4 or Llama 3 70B Instruct?
Llama 3 70B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Grok 4 costs $3/1M input and $15/1M output tokens. Llama 3 70B Instruct costs $0.4/1M input and $0.4/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Grok 4 or Llama 3 70B Instruct open source?
Grok 4 is listed under Proprietary. Llama 3 70B Instruct is listed under Open Source. 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 multimodal input, Grok 4 or Llama 3 70B Instruct?
Grok 4 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.
Which is better for reasoning mode, Grok 4 or Llama 3 70B Instruct?
Grok 4 has the clearer documented reasoning mode signal in this comparison. If reasoning mode is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Grok 4 and Llama 3 70B Instruct?
Grok 4 is available on Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, and Replicate API. Llama 3 70B Instruct is available on GCP Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, NVIDIA NIM, and DeepInfra. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.