Llama 3.1 405B vs Pixtral 12B

Compare Llama 3.1 405B and Pixtral 12B: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature Llama 3.1 405B Pixtral 12B
CategoryOpen SourceVision
Parameters405B12B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.08/1M tokens$0.02/1M tokens
Output Price$0.14/1M tokens$0.04/1M tokens
Latency~600ms~200ms

Choose Llama 3.1 405B when:

  • ✓ Premium tasks
  • ✓ Research
  • ✓ Fine-tuning base
Key Strengths:

Largest open model, Highest open-source quality

Choose Pixtral 12B when:

  • ✓ Simple image tasks
  • ✓ Classification
  • ✓ OCR
Key Strengths:

Low cost vision, Fast, Compact

Verdict: Llama 3.1 405B vs Pixtral 12B

For cost efficiency, Pixtral 12B wins at $0.02/1M input tokens. For speed, Pixtral 12B is faster at ~200ms. Llama 3.1 405B excels at Premium tasks while Pixtral 12B is better for Simple image tasks. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Llama 3.1 405B costs $0.08/1M input tokens and $0.14/1M output tokens. Pixtral 12B costs $0.02 input and $0.04 output. Pixtral 12B is 4.0x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Llama 3.1 405B has a 128K context window with ~600ms latency. Pixtral 12B offers 128K context at ~200ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source) is optimized for: Premium tasks, Research, Fine-tuning base. Pixtral 12B (Vision) works best for: Simple image tasks, Classification, OCR.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use Llama 3.1 405B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3-1-405b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Pixtral 12B
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="pixtral-12b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Llama 3.1 405B or Pixtral 12B?

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source, 405B) offers Largest open model. Pixtral 12B (Vision, 12B) offers Low cost vision. Choose Llama 3.1 405B for Premium tasks or Pixtral 12B for Simple image tasks.

How much does Llama 3.1 405B cost vs Pixtral 12B?

Llama 3.1 405B: $0.08/1M input, $0.14/1M output. Pixtral 12B: $0.02/1M input, $0.04/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between Llama 3.1 405B and Pixtral 12B by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.