Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) (2024) and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) ships a 66k-token context window, while Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 ships a 1m-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 3.3 70B Instruct (free) is ~50% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Classification and JSON / Tool use | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 66k | 1m |
| Cheapest output | $0.32/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 11 tracked | 10 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.32/1M tokens.
- Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) for Classification and JSON / Tool use.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free)
$160
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $110. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, Together AI, and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is $0.28/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM, Together AI, and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) is $0.28/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-12-06 | 2025-04-05 |
| Context window | 66k | 1m |
| Parameters | 70B | 400B (17B active) |
| Architecture | decoder only | mixture of experts |
| License | Llama 3 Community | Llama 4 Community |
| Openness | Open weights | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use with conditions | Commercial use with conditions |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2024-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.32/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| 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 vision: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 and multimodal input: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8. Both models share structured outputs, 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, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) lists $0.10/1M input and $0.32/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 lists $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) lower by about $0.12 per million blended tokens. Availability is 11 providers versus 10, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) when provider fit, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 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, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 supports 1m tokens, while Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) supports 66k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) costs $0.10/1M input and $0.32/1M output tokens. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 costs $0.15/1M input and $0.60/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 open source?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) is listed under Llama 3 Community. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is listed under Llama 4 Community. 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 vision, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8?
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) is available on Cloudflare Workers AI, NVIDIA NIM, GroqCloud, Together AI, and Arcee AI. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is available on Microsoft Foundry, Together AI, OpenRouter, Fireworks AI, and DeepInfra. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-07. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.