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LightweightOpen SourceMeta
Llama 3 8B
Llama 3 8B is Meta's lightweight open-source model from the Llama family, designed for efficient inference with tool calling support and an 8K context window.
Context 8K
Tier Lightweight
Tools Supported
License Open Source
Input from
$0.200 / 1M tokens
across 2 providers
API Pricing
Cheapest on Together AI — 20% below avg| Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M |
|---|---|---|
| $0.200 | $0.200 | |
| $0.300 | $0.600 |
Prices updated daily. Last check: Sep 6, 2026
Llama 3 8B pricing by provider
Input, output, and batch rates, plus alternatives, for one provider at a time.
Performance & Benchmarks
Source: Artificial Analysis →Intelligence
1.0 / 100
Reasoning & Knowledge
- MMLU-Pro40.5%
- GPQA Diamond29.6%
- Humanity's Last Exam5.1%
Coding
- LiveCodeBench9.6%
Math
- AIME0.0%
- MATH-50049.9%
Agentic & Tool Use
- Terminal-Bench Hard0.0%
- τ²-bench0.0%
Instruction & Long Context
- IFBench24.6%
- Long-Context Reasoning0.0%
Benchmarks measured Sep 2026. Scores are independent evaluations, not vendor-reported.
Model Details
General
- Creator
- Meta
- Family
- Llama
- Tier
- Lightweight
- Context Window
- 8K
- Modalities
- Text
Capabilities
- Tool Calling
- Yes
- Open Source
- Yes
- Subtypes
- Chat Completion
- Aliases
- meta-llama-3-8b, meta-llama-meta-llama-3-8b
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- Open-source model weights available for custom deployment and fine-tuning
- Tool calling support enables integration with external APIs and functions
- Lightweight 8B parameter size allows for efficient inference and lower computational requirements
- Part of Meta's established Llama family with broad community support
- Can be self-hosted for data privacy and compliance requirements
- Lower latency compared to larger models in the same family
Limitations
- Text-only modality with no image or multimodal input support
- 8K context window is smaller than many competing models
- Capability limitations compared to larger models for complex reasoning tasks
- Knowledge cutoff may be older than more recently trained competing models
Key Features
•8,000 token context window
•Tool calling with external function integration
•Chat completion interface
•Open-source model weights
•Text-based conversation capabilities
•Streaming response support
•Fine-tuning compatibility
About Llama 3 8B
Llama 3 8B is Meta's lightweight entry in the Llama model family, positioned as an efficient open-source option for developers who need capable language understanding without the computational overhead of larger models. As part of Meta's third-generation Llama series, it represents a balance between performance and resource requirements.
The model operates with an 8,000 token context window and supports text-only interactions through chat completion. It includes tool calling capabilities, allowing it to interact with external functions and APIs. Being open-source, the model weights are publicly available, enabling researchers and developers to fine-tune, modify, or deploy the model on their own infrastructure.
Llama 3 8B serves organizations that need consistent language model capabilities at scale without the costs associated with larger models. It competes with other lightweight models in scenarios where deployment flexibility and cost efficiency are priorities over maximum capability.
Common Use Cases
Llama 3 8B is suited for applications requiring efficient language processing at scale, including customer service chatbots, content moderation, text classification, and basic coding assistance. Its lightweight nature makes it ideal for organizations with high-volume inference needs or limited computational budgets. The open-source availability enables custom fine-tuning for domain-specific applications like internal documentation systems, automated email responses, or specialized text analysis workflows where data privacy requirements favor on-premises deployment over API-based solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Llama 3 8B cost per million tokens?
Llama 3 8B pricing varies by provider and deployment type (cloud API vs self-hosted). Check the pricing table above for current rates across all providers offering this model.
What is Llama 3 8B best used for?
Llama 3 8B excels at high-volume text processing tasks like customer support, content classification, and basic coding assistance where efficiency matters more than maximum capability. Its open-source nature makes it particularly suitable for organizations requiring custom fine-tuning or on-premises deployment.
How does Llama 3 8B compare to larger models in the Llama family?
Llama 3 8B trades some reasoning capability and context understanding for faster inference and lower computational requirements. While larger Llama models handle more complex tasks, the 8B variant processes simpler queries more efficiently and costs less to run at scale.