---
title: "Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct still undominated? · Undominated.ai"
canonical: https://undominated.ai/check/meta-llama__llama-3.1-8b-instruct/
description: "Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Sep 23, 2026. Unrated stays unrated."
---

# Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct still undominated? · Undominated.ai

> Llama 3.1 8B Instruct: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Sep 23, 2026. Unrated stays unrated.

# Is Llama 3.1 8B Instruct a good deal?

Whether anything in this catalogue beats Llama 3.1 8B Instruct on both quality and price, and what you give up if it does. A computation on the current catalogue, not an opinion.

13 undominated of 136 · Sep 23, 2026

 [1 · Choose & set workload](#check-input)[2 · Read verdict](#check-verdict)[3 · Inspect alternatives](#check-options)

As of Sep 23, 2026, gpt-oss-20b scores higher and costs less than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct for Balanced on LMArena, but it is not a drop-in. You would give up: max output.

[Inspect model evidence](/models/meta-llama__llama-3.1-8b-instruct/) [Compare differences & requirements](/compare/?models=meta-llama%2Fllama-3.1-8b-instruct%2Copenai%2Fgpt-oss-20b)

 Current model

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

 Balanced

3 tokens in per 1 out

 Balanced Summarise Chat Code gen Agentic
 Monthly spend (USD) Used only to say how many months a named switching cost would take to earn back. Leave blank to skip. Switching cost (USD)

gpt-oss-20b scores 100.8 points higher and costs 37% less, but you would give up: max output.

 [Llama 3.1 8B Instruct](https://undominated.ai/models/meta-llama__llama-3.1-8b-instruct/)

LMArena Elo · higher is better

Scale starts at 1040 Elo

 **

1186.5

Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better

 **

$0.058/M

 [gpt-oss-20b](https://undominated.ai/models/openai__gpt-oss-20b/)

LMArena Elo · higher is better

Scale starts at 1040 Elo

 **

1287.3

Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better

 **

$0.036/M

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct takes text, returns up to 117,964 tokens from a 131,072-token context, and is listed by 5 sellers.

Compared against 136 rated, priced models on this lens: nothing dominates it outright, 2 more dominate it but give something up. Llama 3.1 8B Instruct scores 1186.5 at $0.06 per million tokens for this mix.

## Higher score, lower price, named losses

Not a drop-in. The loss is why these are not a recommendation.

| Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You give up |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [gpt-oss-20b](/models/openai__gpt-oss-20b/) | 1287.3 | $0.036/M | max output |
| [Mistral Small 3](/models/mistralai__mistral-small-24b-instruct-2501/) | 1233.5 | $0.058/M | context, max output, tools |

 136 rated, priced standard models. Chartreuse is the frontier. Cobalt is the model you named, when it is not on the staircase.

Copy watch URL [Open the frontier](/frontier/)

The link keeps the model and mix, using the current catalogue. Monthly spend and switching cost stay in this browser tab and are left out of the link.

## Saved decision references

Save the model, workload, catalogue date and capability-preservation rule in this browser. Spend, switching cost and bill contents are not saved. No account or notifications.

Constraint: replacements must preserve the model’s capabilities; any losses remain named trade-offs.

Historical decisions cannot be fully replayed from saved references: past prices, scores and capability evidence are not stored.

 Save this reference

## Continue your investigation

 - [Build a shortlist](/compare/)
- [Inspect alternatives](/alternatives/)
- [Check billing conditions](/traps/)
- [Read model evidence](/models/)