Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite vs Magistral Small 2509
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite (2025) and Magistral Small 2509 (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and MistralAI. Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite ships a 8K-token context window, while Magistral Small 2509 ships a not-yet-sourced context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is ~400% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Magistral Small 2509 only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | tool-calling agents | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | General |
| Context window | 8K | — |
| Cheapest output | $0.10/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- 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 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.10/1M tokens.
- 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.
- Magistral Small 2509 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
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
Magistral Small 2509
$775
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $670. 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 Magistral Small 2509; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Magistral Small 2509 is $1.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Magistral Small 2509 and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is $1.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite adds JSON / Tool use and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-07-15 | 2025-09-01 |
| Context window | 8K | — |
| Parameters | 8B | 24B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | - |
| License | Llama 3 Community | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Restricted | Permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-03 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.10/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on JSON / Tool use: Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite, JSON / Tool use: Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite, and structured outputs: Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite. 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, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite lists $0.10/1M input and $0.10/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Magistral Small 2509 lists $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite lower by about $0.70 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite when provider fit and lower input-token cost are central to the workload. Choose Magistral Small 2509 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 is cheaper, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Magistral Small 2509?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite costs $0.10/1M input and $0.10/1M output tokens. Magistral Small 2509 costs $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Magistral Small 2509 open source?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is listed under Llama 3 Community. Magistral Small 2509 is listed under Apache 2.0. 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 JSON / Tool use, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Magistral Small 2509?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite has the clearer documented JSON / Tool use signal in this comparison. If JSON / Tool use is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for JSON / Tool use, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Magistral Small 2509?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite has the clearer documented JSON / Tool use signal in this comparison. If JSON / Tool use is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for structured outputs, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Magistral Small 2509?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite has the clearer documented structured outputs signal in this comparison. If structured outputs is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite and Magistral Small 2509?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is available on Together AI. Magistral Small 2509 is available on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-10-20. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.