Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Llama 4 Scout vs Llama Guard 4 12B

Llama 4 Scout (Meta) and Llama Guard 4 12B (Meta) 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, Llama 4 Scout holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#104 vs #229); Llama Guard 4 12B is 1.7× cheaper per output token ($0.18/1M vs $0.30/1M); and Llama 4 Scout offers the longer context window (1.3M vs 1M tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 4 Scout if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #104 against #229 (22.5 vs 0.0 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.18/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1.3M tokens against 1M.
  • you want provider choice — 4 listed API providers against 2.

Choose Llama Guard 4 12B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.18/1M output tokens against $0.30/1M, about 1.7× cheaper.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Llama Guard 4 12B was listed 30 April 2025, Llama 4 Scout 5 April 2025.

Llama 4 Scout vs Llama Guard 4 12B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 4 Scout and Llama Guard 4 12B
FieldLlama 4 ScoutMetaLlama Guard 4 12BMeta
ModelCap Index position#104#229
Index score22.50.0
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.10$0.18
Output price / 1M tokens$0.30$0.18
Context window1.3M tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens16K16K
API providers listed42
Weight accessGated accessGated access
Input modalitiesText, ImageImage, Text
First listed5 April 202530 April 2025
PublisherMetaMeta

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · publisher corpus prior · leave-one-anchor-out calibrated. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 4 Scout vs Llama Guard 4 12B

Public benchmark boards where Llama 4 Scout or Llama Guard 4 12B has a published result
BoardLlama 4 ScoutLlama Guard 4 12BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13621353–1370—Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation0.0%—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis10.3intelligence-index—Only 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 4 Scout vs Llama Guard 4 12B: common questions

Is Llama 4 Scout better than Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama 4 Scout ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #104 against #229. 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 4 Scout cheaper than Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama Guard 4 12B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.18/1M against $0.30/1M. Input tokens are $0.10/1M for Llama 4 Scout and $0.18/1M for Llama Guard 4 12B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 4 Scout or Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama 4 Scout has the larger context window: 1.3M tokens against 1M.

Which is better for coding, Llama 4 Scout or Llama Guard 4 12B?

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 4 Scout and Llama Guard 4 12B open-weight models?

Llama 4 Scout: Gated access. Llama Guard 4 12B: Gated access. 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 4 Scout and Llama Guard 4 12B?

ModelCap currently lists 4 API providers for Llama 4 Scout and 2 for Llama Guard 4 12B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 4 Scout vs Llama Guard 4 12B 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.

Explore further