Hunyuan Hy3 Preview vs Llama Guard 4 12B
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview (2026) and Llama Guard 4 12B (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Tencent AI Lab and AI at Meta. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview ships a 262k-token context window, while Llama Guard 4 12B ships a 164k-token context window. On pricing, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview costs $0.07/1M input tokens versus $0.18/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is ~173% cheaper at $0.07/1M; pay for Llama Guard 4 12B only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Llama Guard 4 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | RAG, Long context, and Classification |
| Context window | 262k | 164k |
| Cheapest output | $0.26/1M tokens | $0.18/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview uniquely exposes Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Hunyuan Hy3 Preview for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Llama Guard 4 12B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.18/1M tokens.
- Llama Guard 4 12B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Llama Guard 4 12B uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 4 12B 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.
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview
$118
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Llama Guard 4 12B
$189
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $71.20. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama Guard 4 12B is $0.08/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Llama Guard 4 12B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is $0.08/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Hunyuan Hy3 Preview adds Reasoning, Function calling, and Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-22 | 2025-04-05 |
| Context window | 262k | 164k |
| Parameters | 295B | 12B |
| Architecture | dense moe hybrid | decoder only |
| License | Tencent Hunyuan Community License | Llama 2 Community |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Commercial use with conditions |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2024-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Llama Guard 4 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.07/1M tokens | $0.18/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.26/1M tokens | $0.18/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Hunyuan Hy3 Preview | Llama Guard 4 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| Tool use | Yes | 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 rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: Hunyuan Hy3 Preview, function calling: Hunyuan Hy3 Preview, tool use: Hunyuan Hy3 Preview, and structured outputs: Llama Guard 4 12B. 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.
For cost, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lists $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Llama Guard 4 12B lists $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Hunyuan Hy3 Preview lower by about $0.06 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 3, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Hunyuan Hy3 Preview when reasoning depth, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Llama Guard 4 12B when provider fit 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, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview supports 262k tokens, while Llama Guard 4 12B supports 164k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Hunyuan Hy3 Preview costs $0.07/1M input and $0.26/1M output tokens. Llama Guard 4 12B costs $0.18/1M input and $0.18/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Llama Guard 4 12B open source?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is listed under Tencent Hunyuan Community License. Llama Guard 4 12B is listed under Llama 2 Community. 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 reasoning mode, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview 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.
Which is better for function calling, Hunyuan Hy3 Preview or Llama Guard 4 12B?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview has the clearer documented function calling signal in this comparison. If function calling is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Hunyuan Hy3 Preview and Llama Guard 4 12B?
Hunyuan Hy3 Preview is available on OpenRouter and Tencent Cloud TI Platform. Llama Guard 4 12B is available on NVIDIA NIM, Replicate API, and OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-07. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.