Llama 3.1 70B vs Llama 3.1 405B
Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026
Llama 3.1 70B is cheaper than Llama 3.1 405B at $0.35/1M/1M vs $2.70/1M/1M input tokens — a 7.7x cost difference. Llama 3.1 405B scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1267). Choose Llama 3.1 70B for cost-sensitive workloads; choose Llama 3.1 405B for maximum quality.
Which is cheaper: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3.1 70B is the cheaper option at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $2.70/1M for Llama 3.1 405B. That is a 7.7x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: Llama 3.1 70B charges $0.40/1M/1M vs $2.70/1M/1M for Llama 3.1 405B.
Which has better quality: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, Llama 3.1 405B achieves a higher ELO score (1267 vs 1247), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. Llama 3.1 70B excels at excellent price-to-quality ratio. Llama 3.1 405B is known for open source — can be self-hosted for data privacy.
Which should you choose: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
- → Excellent price-to-quality ratio
- → Open source and self-hostable
- → Good at coding and instruction following
- → Open source — can be self-hosted for data privacy
- → Competitive with GPT-4o on many benchmarks
- → Strong multilingual capabilities
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3.1 70B is cheaper at $0.35/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 7.7x more affordable.
Which has better quality: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Llama 3.1 405B scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1267, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.
Which has a larger context window: Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Both Llama 3.1 70B and Llama 3.1 405B have the same context window.
Should I choose Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B?
Choose Llama 3.1 70B if cost is the priority. Choose Llama 3.1 405B if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: Llama 3.1 70B is best for coding and low-cost, while Llama 3.1 405B excels at coding and research.
Is Llama 3.1 70B or Llama 3.1 405B open source?
Llama 3.1 70B is open source. Llama 3.1 405B is open source.