Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite vs Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite (2025) and Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct (2024) are compact production models from AI at Meta and Microsoft Research. Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite ships a 8k-token context window, while Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct 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.
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is ~400% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | tool-calling agents | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Agents, Classification, and JSON / Tool use | Long context |
| Context window | 8k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- 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 Function calling, 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.
- Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct for Long context.
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
Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct
$525
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Estimated monthly gap: $420. 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 Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct is $0.40/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Function calling, Tool use, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct and Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is $0.40/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite adds Function calling, Tool use, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-07-15 | 2024-08-20 |
| Context window | 8k | 128k |
| Parameters | 8B | 16x3.8B (42B, 6.6B active) |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Llama 3 Community | MIT(OSI) |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Commercial use allowed |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-03 | 2023-10 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite | Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | Yes | No |
| 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 rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on function calling: Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite, 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 Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct lists $0.50/1M input and $0.50/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite lower by about $0.40 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 1, 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 Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct when long-context analysis and larger context windows 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, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct?
Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct supports 128k tokens, while Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite 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, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct?
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. Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct costs $0.50/1M input and $0.50/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct open source?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is listed under Llama 3 Community. Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct is listed under MIT. 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 function calling, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite 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.
Which is better for tool use, Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite or Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite has the clearer documented tool use signal in this comparison. If tool use 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 Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct?
Together AI - Llama 3 8B Lite is available on Together AI. Phi 3.5 MoE Instruct is available on Fireworks AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-19. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.