Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite vs Llama Guard 3 1B
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite (2025) and Llama Guard 3 1B (2024) are compact production models from AI at Meta. Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite ships a 8k-token context window, while Llama Guard 3 1B ships a 128k-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.
Llama Guard 3 1B fits 16x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | tool-calling agents | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | Long context and Classification |
| Context window | 8k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- 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.
- Llama Guard 3 1B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 3 1B for Long context and Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Llama Guard 3 1B
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Estimated monthly gap: $0.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite and Llama Guard 3 1B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Cheapest tracked output pricing is tied, so migration risk shifts to quality, latency, and provider packaging.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama Guard 3 1B and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Cheapest tracked output pricing is tied, so migration risk shifts to quality, latency, and provider packaging.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite adds JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-07-15 | 2024-09-25 |
| Context window | 8k | 128k |
| Parameters | 8B | 1B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Llama 3 Community | Llama 2 Community |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-03 | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| 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.