API cost decision in 10 seconds

Claude 3.5 Haiku vs Llama 3 8B Lunaris

Pick Llama 3 8B Lunaris for lower cost; pick Claude 3.5 Haiku only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Llama 3 8B Lunaris for lower cost; pick Claude 3.5 Haiku only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3 8B Lunaris is estimated at $0.07 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $2.73 (97.7% lower).

Cost-first pickLlama 3 8B Lunaris
Context-first pickClaude 3.5 Haiku
Sample savings$2.7397.7%
10x traffic gap$27.35

Claude 3.5 Haiku has more context, but Llama 3 8B Lunaris saves $2.73 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $27.35. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Llama 3 8B Lunaris stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickClaude 3.5 HaikuLlama 3 8B Lunaris
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$6$0.23
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$4.8$0.09
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$20.8$0.29
Cheaper input Llama 3 8B Lunaris $0.8 vs $0.04 / 1M

Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.76 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95% lower; 20x difference).

Cheaper output Llama 3 8B Lunaris $4 vs $0.05 / 1M

Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $3.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.8% lower; 80x difference).

Larger context Claude 3.5 Haiku 200K vs 8.19K

Claude 3.5 Haiku has 191.81K more context (24.4x larger).

Sample workload Llama 3 8B Lunaris $2.8 vs $0.07

Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $2.73 cheaper on the standard workload (97.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Claude 3.5 Haiku Calculating… Estimated API cost
Llama 3 8B Lunaris Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Llama 3 8B Lunaris has the lower input price; Llama 3 8B Lunaris has the lower output price; Claude 3.5 Haiku offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Llama 3 8B Lunaris is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku and $0.07 for Llama 3 8B Lunaris.

Best Fit

Choose Claude 3.5 Haiku when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Llama 3 8B Lunaris when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3 8B Lunaris is estimated at $0.07 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $2.73 (97.7% lower).
  • Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $2.73 cheaper on the standard workload (97.7% lower).
  • Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.76 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95% lower; 20x difference).
  • Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $3.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.8% lower; 80x difference).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku has 191.81K more context (24.4x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureClaude 3.5 Haiku
(Anthropic)		Llama 3 8B Lunaris
(Sao10K)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.8$0.04
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$4$0.05
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$2.8$0.07
Context Window200K8.19K
Release Date
Popularity#104#115

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionLlama 3 8B LunarisOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3 8B Lunaris is estimated at $0.07 vs $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku, saving $2.73 (97.7% lower).
High-volume input processingLlama 3 8B LunarisLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsLlama 3 8B LunarisLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workClaude 3.5 HaikuA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Claude 3 Haiku can replace Claude 3.5 Haiku when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.88.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Anthropic catalog

Review all tracked Anthropic models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Sao10K catalog

Check other Sao10K models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Sao10K models
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