Llama 3.2 1B vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Llama 3.2 1B (2024) and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (2024) are compact production models from AI at Meta. Llama 3.2 1B ships a 128k-token context window, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. On Massive Multitask Language Understanding, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct leads by 34.4 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Llama 3.2 1B is ~2300% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Llama 3.1 405B Instruct only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 3.2 1B | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | general production evaluation | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, Long context, and Classification | RAG, Long context, and Classification |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.10/1M tokens | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 11 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 shared | Massive Multitask Language Understanding leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama 3.2 1B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.10/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.2 1B for Coding, Long context, and Classification.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct holds a shared-benchmark lead on Massive Multitask Language Understanding, ahead by 34.4 points.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 405B Instruct 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.
Llama 3.2 1B
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
$2,520
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $2,415. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Fireworks AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is $2.30/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on Fireworks AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3.2 1B is $2.30/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-09-25 | 2024-07-23 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 1.23B | 405B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Llama 3 Community | Llama 3 Community |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Weights | Unknown | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 3.2 1B | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.10/1M tokens | $2.40/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 3.2 1B | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Llama 3.1 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Multitask Language Understanding | 54.2 | 88.6 |
Continue comparing
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- DeepSeek V3 vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral NeMo (2407)
- Grok-3 vs Llama 3.2 1B
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Qwen3.6-27B
- Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Mistral NeMo Instruct (2407)
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.