LLM Reference

Llama 3.1 405B vs Qwen2.5-72B

Llama 3.1 405B (2024) and Qwen2.5-72B (2025) are compact production models from AI at Meta and Alibaba. Llama 3.1 405B ships a 128k-token context window, while Qwen2.5-72B 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.

Qwen2.5-72B is safer overall; choose Llama 3.1 405B when provider fit matters.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalLlama 3.1 405BQwen2.5-72B
Best forgeneral production evaluationtool-calling agents
Decision fitCoding, Long context, and ClassificationRAG, Agents, and Long context
Context window128k128k
Cheapest output--
Provider routes0 tracked0 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Llama 3.1 405B when...
  • Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 405B for Coding, Long context, and Classification.
Choose Qwen2.5-72B when...
  • Qwen2.5-72B uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen2.5-72B for RAG, Agents, and Long context.

Monthly cost at traffic

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

Llama 3.1 405B

Unavailable

No complete token price in local provider data

Qwen2.5-72B

Unavailable

No complete token price in local provider data

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

Switch friction

Llama 3.1 405B -> Qwen2.5-72B
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama 3.1 405B and Qwen2.5-72B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Qwen2.5-72B adds JSON / JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Qwen2.5-72B -> Llama 3.1 405B
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Qwen2.5-72B and Llama 3.1 405B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Check replacement coverage for JSON / JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.

Specs

Specification
Released2024-07-232025-10-10
Context window128k128k
Parameters405B72B
ArchitectureDecoder Only-
LicenseLlama 3 CommunityApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen weightsOpen source
WeightsAvailableAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2023-122024-09

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeLlama 3.1 405BQwen2.5-72B
Input price--
Output price--
Providers--

Pricing not yet sourced for either model.

Capabilities

CapabilityLlama 3.1 405BQwen2.5-72B
VisionNoNo
MultimodalNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
JSON / Tool useNoYes
Structured outputsNoNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

Continue comparing

Last reviewed: 2026-07-09. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.