command-r-plus vs llama-3.1-8b-instant
llama-3.1-8b-instant is 50.0× cheaper on input than command-r-plus.
| command-r-plus | llama-3.1-8b-instant | |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $2.50 | $0.05 |
| Cached input / 1M | — | — |
| Output / 1M | $10.00 | $0.08 |
| Context window | 128K | 128K |
| Max output | 4K | 8K |
| Provider | Cohere | Groq |
| Vision | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Token count | estimated | estimated |
Capability for the money
Independent measurement · Artificial Analysis · read 2026-08-11command-r-plus is 76.1× dearer for 6.4 points on hard reasoning (GPQA Diamond) — worth it only if that is your bottleneck.
Coding
writing and fixing code
LiveCodeBenchcommand-r-plus +0.6
Hard reasoning
graduate-level science and multi-step analysis
GPQA Diamondcommand-r-plus +6.4
Averaged over the benchmarks both models sat, llama-3.1-8b-instant returns 326.1 points of pass rate per dollar of blended price against 5.1 — the ratio that decides whether the dearer model earns its rate.
Each figure is a pass rate: the share of that test set the model answered correctly, measured by a third party rather than self-reported by the lab. Rows are different tests of different difficulty, so compare a model against the other model, not one row against the next. No published following instructions or tool use score for one of these models, so those lenses are omitted. And a benchmark is not your workload — it narrows the shortlist, it does not pick for you.
Which to pick
- Cheaper input: llama-3.1-8b-instant
- Cheaper output: llama-3.1-8b-instant
- Larger context: command-r-plus
- Better at coding: command-r-plus (12.2% vs 11.6% on LiveCodeBench)
- Better at hard reasoning: command-r-plus (32.3% vs 25.9% on GPQA Diamond)
List price is not production cost. Output length, cache hit rate, retries and task quality move the real number more than the headline rate does — price your own prompt on the token ledger before deciding.
Related comparisons
command-r-plus detail · llama-3.1-8b-instant detail · All Cohere pricing · All comparisons