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Head-to-head comparison

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct (Meta) and GPT-4o-mini (OpenAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, GPT-4o-mini holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#216 vs #218); Llama 3.2 1B Instruct is 3× cheaper per output token ($0.201/1M vs $0.60/1M); and GPT-4o-mini offers the longer context window (128K vs 60K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 3.2 1B Instruct if…

  • API cost matters — $0.201/1M output tokens against $0.60/1M, about 3× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.027/1M against $0.15/1M.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Llama 3.2 1B Instruct was listed 25 September 2024, GPT-4o-mini 18 July 2024.

Choose GPT-4o-mini if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #216 against #218 (1.1 vs 0.0 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 128K tokens against 60K.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 3.2 1B Instruct and GPT-4o-mini
FieldLlama 3.2 1B InstructMetaGPT-4o-miniOpenAI
ModelCap Index position#218#216
Index score0.01.1
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.027$0.15
Output price / 1M tokens$0.201$0.60
Context window60K tokens128K tokens
Max output tokens60K16K
API providers listed12
Weight accessGated accessAPI only
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, File
First listed25 September 202418 July 2024
PublisherMetaOpenAI

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 3.2 1B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini

Public benchmark boards where Llama 3.2 1B Instruct or GPT-4o-mini has a published result
BoardLlama 3.2 1B InstructGPT-4o-miniLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)11491133–1165—Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—0.0%Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)10.8Function calling—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—6.7intelligence-indexOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini: common questions

Is Llama 3.2 1B Instruct better than GPT-4o-mini?

GPT-4o-mini ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #216 against #218. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Llama 3.2 1B Instruct cheaper than GPT-4o-mini?

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct is cheaper on output tokens: $0.201/1M against $0.60/1M. Input tokens are $0.027/1M for Llama 3.2 1B Instruct and $0.15/1M for GPT-4o-mini. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 3.2 1B Instruct or GPT-4o-mini?

GPT-4o-mini has the larger context window: 128K tokens against 60K.

Which is better for coding, Llama 3.2 1B Instruct or GPT-4o-mini?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Llama 3.2 1B Instruct and GPT-4o-mini open-weight models?

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct: Gated access. GPT-4o-mini: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Llama 3.2 1B Instruct and GPT-4o-mini?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Llama 3.2 1B Instruct and 2 for GPT-4o-mini, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 3.2 1B Instruct vs GPT-4o-mini comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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