llama-3.1-8b-instant vs llama-3.1-8b-instruct

Capability for the money

llama-3.1-8b-instruct costs 3.5× more than llama-3.1-8b-instant without measurably beating it on any benchmark they share — on that evidence the extra spend buys nothing you can point at.

1. Following instructions

   extraction, classification, sticking to a format

   IFBench
   llama-3.1-8b-instant28.6%

   llama-3.1-8b-instruct28.6%

   level

2. Coding

   writing and fixing code

   LiveCodeBench
   llama-3.1-8b-instant11.6%

   llama-3.1-8b-instruct11.6%

   level

3. Tool use

   multi-step agent work against real tools

   τ²-bench
   llama-3.1-8b-instant16.4%

   llama-3.1-8b-instruct16.4%

   level

4. Hard reasoning

   graduate-level science and multi-step analysis

   GPQA Diamond
   llama-3.1-8b-instant25.9%

   llama-3.1-8b-instruct25.9%

   level

Averaged over the benchmarks both models sat, llama-3.1-8b-instant returns 358.7 points of pass rate per dollar of blended price against 103.1 — 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. And a benchmark is not your workload — it narrows the shortlist, it does not pick for you.