Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 vs Llama Guard 2 8B

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 (2025) and Llama Guard 2 8B (2024) are compact production models from NVIDIA AI and AI at Meta. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 ships a 4k-token context window, while Llama Guard 2 8B ships a 8k-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 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 is safer overall; choose Llama Guard 2 8B when long-context analysis matters.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Llama Guard 2 8B
Best forgeneral production evaluationprovider-routed production
Decision fitGeneralClassification
Context window4k8k
Cheapest output-$0.25/1M tokens
Provider routes1 tracked3 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 when...
  • Use Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
Choose Llama Guard 2 8B when...
  • Llama Guard 2 8B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Llama Guard 2 8B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Local decision data tags Llama Guard 2 8B for Classification.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1

Unavailable

No complete token price in local provider data

Llama Guard 2 8B

$103

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API

Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.

Switch friction

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 -> Llama Guard 2 8B
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1 and Llama Guard 2 8B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
Llama Guard 2 8B -> Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama Guard 2 8B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-04-012024-04-18
Context window4k8k
Parameters4B8B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyDecoder Only
LicenseLlama 3 CommunityLlama 2 Community
OpennessOpen weightsOpen weights
WeightsUnknownAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff-2023-03

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Llama Guard 2 8B
Input price-$0.05/1M tokens
Output price-$0.25/1M tokens
Providers

Capabilities

CapabilityLlama 3.1 Nemotron Nano 4B v1.1Llama Guard 2 8B
VisionNoNo
MultimodalNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
JSON / Tool useNoNo
Structured outputsNoNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

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Last reviewed: 2026-09-18. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.