Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Grok 4.6
At a Glance
| Compare | Grok 4.6xAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort | #21 of 4664.1 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort | #22 of 44$0.097 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort | #16 of 3856.7 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.050Openrouter ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 | $2.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.080Openrouter ↗ · Sep 22, 2026 | $6.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 131K | 500K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 29, 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 | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,186.4883% of row best · rating · llama-3.1-8b-instruct; 95% CI [1182.38141125, 1190.58254982]; votes 49605; rank 313 | 1,429.86100% of row best · rating · grok-4.6-high; 95% CI [1424.03688750, 1435.69279464]; votes 15521; rank 87 |
| ToneBench2026-09-11-10-task-4ef099199c9c · overall_score · unverified | 47.9255% of row best · points · Llama 3.1 8B · 1,165 output tokens / case | 86.61100% of row best · points · Grok 4.6 · 15,575 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 1 benchmark winNo 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 | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Grok 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Meta | xAI |
| Family | Llama 3 1 8b Instruct | Grok 4 |
| Model | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Grok 4.6 |
| Version | Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct | Grok 4.6 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2024-07-23 | Unknown |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | 2026-02-01 |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 131K | 500K |
| Total parameters | 8B | Unknown |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | llama3.1 | Unknown |
| Open weights | Yes | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Provider access | Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, tools |
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct Capabilities
Grok 4.6 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
All text comparisons →| A | Pair | B | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs | Grok 4.5xAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peerstext | |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext | |
Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peerstext |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs Grok 4.6 FAQs
Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Grok 4.6, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $0.050 and Grok 4.6 is $2.00 per million tokens, so Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on this metric. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $0.080 and Grok 4.6 is $6.00 per million tokens, so Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
Grok 4.6 has the larger sourced context window. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K and Grok 4.6 supports 500K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6 be self-hosted?+
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is open weight; Grok 4.6 is not marked open weight.
Can Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Grok 4.6 understand images?+
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is not documented with image input; Grok 4.6 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is — and Grok 4.6 is —.
Do Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and Grok 4.6 support reasoning and tool use?+
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: tool calling. Grok 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has 2 sourced provider routes; Grok 4.6 has 1, so Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or Grok 4.6?+
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.