API cost decision in 10 seconds

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools

Pick Llama 3.3 70B Instruct for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Llama 3.3 70B Instruct for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.26 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $7.74 (96.8% lower).

Cost-first pickLlama 3.3 70B Instruct

Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools

Sample savings$7.7496.8%

10x traffic gap$77.4

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has more context, but Llama 3.3 70B Instruct saves $7.74 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $77.4. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	$0.66	$16
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	$0.42	$14
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	$1.7	$62

Cheaper input Llama 3.3 70B Instruct $0.1 vs $2 / 1M

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $1.9 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95% lower; 20x difference).

Cheaper output Llama 3.3 70B Instruct $0.32 vs $12 / 1M

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $11.68 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.3% lower; 37.5x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools 131.07K vs 1.05M

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has 917.68K more context (8x larger).

Sample workload Llama 3.3 70B Instruct $0.26 vs $8

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $7.74 cheaper on the standard workload (96.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct Calculating… Estimated API cost

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools 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 3.3 70B Instruct has the lower input price; Llama 3.3 70B Instruct has the lower output price; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.26 for Llama 3.3 70B Instruct and $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools.

Best Fit

Choose Llama 3.3 70B Instruct when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.26 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $7.74 (96.8% lower).
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $7.74 cheaper on the standard workload (96.8% lower).
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $1.9 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95% lower; 20x difference).
Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is $11.68 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.3% lower; 37.5x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has 917.68K more context (8x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (Meta)	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.1	$2
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.32	$12
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.26	$8
Context Window	131.07K	1.05M
Release Date	2024-12-06	2026-02-25
Popularity	#88	#132

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.3 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.26 vs $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools, saving $7.74 (96.8% lower).
High-volume input processing	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Llama 3.3 70B Instruct	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) can replace Llama 3.3 70B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) can replace Llama 3.3 70B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can replace Llama 3.3 70B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
Llama 3 8B Instruct can replace Llama 3.3 70B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.06.

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.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.

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