API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥gpt-oss-120b vs Llama 3 8B Lunaris

Pick Llama 3 8B Lunaris for lower cost; pick gpt-oss-120b 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 gpt-oss-120b 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 $0.13 for gpt-oss-120b, saving $0.06 (49.6% lower).

Cost-first pickLlama 3 8B Lunaris
Context-first pickgpt-oss-120b
Sample savings$0.0649.6%
10x traffic gap$0.64

gpt-oss-120b has more context, but Llama 3 8B Lunaris saves $0.06 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.64. 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 pickgpt-oss-120bLlama 3 8B Lunaris
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$0.29$0.23
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$0.22$0.09
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputLlama 3 8B Lunaris$0.94$0.29
Cheaper input gpt-oss-120b $0.039 vs $0.04 / 1M

gpt-oss-120b is $0.001 cheaper per 1M input tokens (2.5% lower; 1.03x difference).

Cheaper output Llama 3 8B Lunaris $0.18 vs $0.05 / 1M

Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (72.2% lower; 3.6x difference).

Larger context gpt-oss-120b 131.07K vs 8.19K

gpt-oss-120b has 122.88K more context (16x larger).

Sample workload Llama 3 8B Lunaris $0.13 vs $0.07

Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.06 cheaper on the standard workload (49.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
gpt-oss-120b 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

gpt-oss-120b has the lower input price; Llama 3 8B Lunaris has the lower output price; gpt-oss-120b 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 $0.13 for gpt-oss-120b and $0.07 for Llama 3 8B Lunaris.

Best Fit

Choose gpt-oss-120b when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Llama 3 8B Lunaris when you care most about 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 $0.13 for gpt-oss-120b, saving $0.06 (49.6% lower).
  • Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.06 cheaper on the standard workload (49.6% lower).
  • gpt-oss-120b is $0.001 cheaper per 1M input tokens (2.5% lower; 1.03x difference).
  • Llama 3 8B Lunaris is $0.13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (72.2% lower; 3.6x difference).
  • gpt-oss-120b has 122.88K more context (16x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥gpt-oss-120b
(OpenAI)
Llama 3 8B Lunaris
(Sao10K)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.039$0.04
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$0.18$0.05
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.13$0.07
Context Window131.07K8.19K
Release Date
Popularity#20#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 $0.13 for gpt-oss-120b, saving $0.06 (49.6% lower).
High-volume input processinggpt-oss-120bLower 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 workgpt-oss-120bA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • gpt-oss-20b can replace gpt-oss-120b when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.

Cheaper alternatives

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

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Larger context alternatives

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

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Sao10K catalog

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gpt-oss-120b

gpt-oss-120b is an open-weight, 117B-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model from OpenAI designed for high-reasoning, agentic, and general-purpose production use cases. It activates 5.1B parameters per forward pass and is optimized...

Llama 3 8B Lunaris

Lunaris 8B is a versatile generalist and roleplaying model based on Llama 3. It's a strategic merge of multiple models, designed to balance creativity with improved logic and general knowledge....