Llama Guard 7B vs Marin 8B Instruct
Llama Guard 7B (2023) and Marin 8B Instruct (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and Marin. Llama Guard 7B ships a 2k-token context window, while Marin 8B 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. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Marin 8B Instruct fits 64x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama Guard 7B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Llama Guard 7B | Marin 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Classification and JSON / Tool use | Long context |
| Context window | 2k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.20/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Llama Guard 7B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Llama Guard 7B uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 7B for Classification and JSON / Tool use.
- Marin 8B Instruct has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Marin 8B Instruct for Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Llama Guard 7B
$210
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Marin 8B Instruct
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama Guard 7B and Marin 8B Instruct; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Marin 8B Instruct and Llama Guard 7B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Llama Guard 7B adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2023-12-07 | 2025-09-01 |
| Context window | 2k | 128k |
| Parameters | 7B | 8B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Llama 2 Community | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Weights | Available | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2022-09 | 2024-07 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama Guard 7B | Marin 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.20/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $0.20/1M tokens | - |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama Guard 7B | Marin 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | 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.
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Last reviewed: 2026-09-08. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.