Llama 3 70B vs Llama 3.1 405B
Llama 3 70B (2024) and Llama 3.1 405B (2024) are compact production models from AI at Meta. Llama 3 70B ships a 8K-token context window, while Llama 3.1 405B ships a 128K-token context window. On Google-Proof Q&A, Llama 3.1 405B leads by 7.4 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Llama 3.1 405B fits 16x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3 70B for tighter calls.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-04-18 | 2024-07-23 |
| Context window | 8K | 128K |
| Parameters | 70B | 405B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Open Source | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Llama 3 70B | Llama 3.1 405B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.65/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $2.75/1M tokens | - |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | Llama 3 70B | Llama 3.1 405B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Llama 3 70B | Llama 3.1 405B |
|---|---|---|
| Google-Proof Q&A | 44.1 | 51.5 |
| HumanEval | 72.6 | 89.0 |
| Massive Multitask Language Understanding | 80.5 | 88.6 |
| HellaSwag | 92.4 | 95.8 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, Google-Proof Q&A has Llama 3 70B at 44.1 and Llama 3.1 405B at 51.5, with Llama 3.1 405B ahead by 7.4 points; HumanEval has Llama 3 70B at 72.6 and Llama 3.1 405B at 89, with Llama 3.1 405B ahead by 16.4 points; Massive Multitask Language Understanding has Llama 3 70B at 80.5 and Llama 3.1 405B at 88.6, with Llama 3.1 405B ahead by 8.1 points. The largest visible gap is 16.4 points on HumanEval, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint is close: both models cover the core production surface. That makes context budget, benchmark fit, and provider maturity more important than a simple checklist. If your application depends on one integration detail, verify it against the provider route you plan to use, not just the base model listing.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Llama 3 70B has $0.65/1M input tokens and Llama 3.1 405B has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 1 tracked routes versus 0. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Llama 3 70B when provider fit and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Llama 3.1 405B 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 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3.1 405B supports 128K tokens, while Llama 3 70B supports 8K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Llama 3 70B or Llama 3.1 405B open source?
Llama 3 70B is listed under Open Source. Llama 3.1 405B is listed under Open Source. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Where can I run Llama 3 70B and Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3 70B is available on Replicate API. Llama 3.1 405B is available on the tracked providers still being sourced. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Llama 3 70B over Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3.1 405B fits 16x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and Llama 3 70B for tighter calls. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Llama 3 70B; if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Llama 3.1 405B.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-04-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.