All models

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs gpt-oss-120b

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct at $0.058 in and $0.092 out and gpt-oss-120b at $0.043 in and $0.196 out — per million tokens, from the same wallet.

M

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Meta

0.04¢

for a client proposal

$0.058 in · $0.092 out / 1M

131K context · released July 2024

Full page →

gpt-oss-120b

OpenAI

0.04¢

for a client proposal

$0.043 in · $0.196 out / 1M

131K context · released August 2025

Full page →

Asking all both at once — identical prompt, identical context — costs about 0.07¢ for a typical client proposal.

At a glance

  • Cheapest input: gpt-oss-120b at $0.043 per million tokens.
  • Cheapest output: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct at $0.092 per million tokens.
  • Identical context windows: 131K tokens each.

Cost per task

Estimated totals at the rates above. Solid bar is input, lighter bar is output.

Quick code fix

2K in · 500 out
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
0.02¢
gpt-oss-120b
0.02¢

Draft a client proposal from notes

5K in · 800 out
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
0.04¢
gpt-oss-120b
0.04¢

Context-heavy session (Alyph workspace)

155K in · 4K out
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
needs 155K ctx
gpt-oss-120b
needs 155K ctx

Analyze a 50-page legal contract

35K in · 1K out
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
0.21¢
gpt-oss-120b
0.17¢

Large architecture refactor

250K in · 3K out
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
needs 250K ctx
gpt-oss-120b
needs 250K ctx

Solid part of each bar is input tokens, the lighter part is output. Models that don’t fit a task are marked instead of priced.

Cost vs Token Amount

Drag the slider to adjust the split between input and output workload.

80% Input20% Output
free3.7¢$0.070 tokens250k500k750k1000k
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
gpt-oss-120b

Adjust the ratio slider to change how output tokens influence the final price for equivalent workloads.

Pricing

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
gpt-oss-120b
Input / 1M tokens
$0.058
$0.043
Output / 1M tokens
$0.092
$0.196
Cached input / 1M
$0.029
—

Specs

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
gpt-oss-120b
Provider
Meta
OpenAI
Released
July 2024
August 2025
Context window
131K
131K
Max output
131K
131K
Input
Text
Text
Output
Text
Text
Reasoning
Answers directly
Shows its thinking
Knowledge cutoff
2023-12-31
2024-06-30

Try it with real numbers

2K tokens in · 500 tokens out.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Meta

0.02¢

for this task

71% input · 29% output

Full pricing →

gpt-oss-120b

OpenAI

0.02¢

for this task

47% input · 53% output

Full pricing →

All 2, same prompt and context: 0.03¢. That is the entire cost of the comparison.

Your $5 welcome credit covers about 14,541 of these.

Which should you pick?

On price, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is the cheapest of the two on a typical task, at about 0.04¢.

If you want to watch the model think, gpt-oss-120b shows reasoning; the other answers directly.

Or don’t pick. Send the identical prompt to all both, read the answers side by side, and keep the winner. How to run a fair bake-off →

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct pricing →gpt-oss-120b pricing →Add Lyria 3 Clip PreviewAdd Grok 4.20

Questions, answered

Which is cheaper, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct or gpt-oss-120b?

On a typical client proposal (5K tokens in, 800 out): Llama 3.1 8B Instruct at 0.04¢; gpt-oss-120b at 0.04¢. Long prompts can change the order when long-context rates apply.

Which has the largest context window?

They are identical — 131K tokens each, about 190 pages.

Can I run Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and gpt-oss-120b side by side on Alyph?

Yes — that is what Alyph is built for: the identical prompt with identical context to all 2, answers rendered side by side, billed from one wallet. This exact combination costs about 0.07¢ for a typical task.

Ask both at once

Identical prompt, identical context, answers side by side — about 0.07¢ for a typical client proposal. Free to start, with $5 of credit.

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