Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
At a Glance
| Compare |  Gemma 4 26B A4BGoogle DeepMind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.070Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 23, 2026 | $0.050Openrouter ↗ · Sep 23, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.30Openrouter ↗ · Sep 23, 2026 | $0.080Openrouter ↗ · Sep 23, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 262K | 131K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 26B-A4B | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,434.47100% of row best · rating · gemma-4-26b-a4b; 95% CI [1426.87673667, 1442.06986887]; votes 5804; rank 80 | 1,186.4883% of row best · rating · llama-3.1-8b-instruct; 95% CI [1182.38141125, 1190.58254982]; votes 49605; rank 313 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 1 benchmark winNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Gemma 4 26B-A4B | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Google DeepMind | Meta |
| Family | Gemma 4 | Llama 3 1 8b Instruct |
| Model | Gemma 4 26B-A4B | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
| Version | Gemma 4 26B-A4B | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-03-11 | 2024-07-23 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 262K | 131K |
| Total parameters | 26B | 8B |
| Active parameters | 4B | Unknown |
| License | apache-2.0 | llama3.1 |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Google Gemini (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) | Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | chat, generation, tools |
Gemma 4 26B A4B Capabilities
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
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Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text |
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 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | vs | Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Gemma 4 26B-A4BGoogle DeepMind | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct FAQs
Is Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Gemma 4 26B A4B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
Gemma 4 26B A4B is $0.070 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $0.050 per million tokens, so Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on this metric. Gemma 4 26B A4B is $0.30 and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $0.080 per million tokens, so Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
Gemma 4 26B A4B has the larger sourced context window. Gemma 4 26B A4B supports 262K and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. Gemma 4 26B A4B is open weight; Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is open weight.
Can Gemma 4 26B A4B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct understand images?+
Gemma 4 26B A4B is documented with image input; Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Gemma 4 26B A4B is — and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is —.
Do Gemma 4 26B A4B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct support reasoning and tool use?+
Gemma 4 26B A4B: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: tool calling. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
Gemma 4 26B A4B has 4 sourced provider routes; Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has 2, so Gemma 4 26B A4B has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Gemma 4 26B A4B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.