OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct: Which AI Model Is Better?

Updated March 2026· Based on independent benchmark data

Quick Verdict

Both OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo and Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct are competitive AI models. See the detailed comparison below to find which best fits your needs.

Head-to-Head Comparison

MetricOpenAI: GPT-3.5 TurboMeta: Llama 3 70B Instruct
Intelligence ScoreN/AN/A
Coding ScoreN/AN/A
Math ScoreN/AN/A
Speed (tok/s)N/AN/A
Latency (TTFT)N/AN/A
Input Price / 1M tokens$0.50$0.51
Output Price / 1M tokens$1.50$0.74
Context Window16K8K
Max Output Tokens4K8K
Input ModalitiesTextText
Output ModalitiesTextText
Free TierNoNo

Detailed Analysis

Pricing

OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo is more affordable at $0.50/1M input tokens ($1.50/1M output), while Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct costs $0.51/1M input ($0.74/1M output). For a typical workload of 100 requests per day at 2,000 tokens each, OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo would cost approximately $3.00/month vs $3.06/month for Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct in input costs alone.

Context Window

OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo offers a larger context window at 16K tokens compared to Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct's 8K. This means OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo can process roughly 8 pages of text in a single request vs 4 pages for Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct. For output length, Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct can generate up to 8K tokens per response vs 4K for OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo.

Best Use Cases

Choose OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo when you need larger context window (16K).

Choose OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo if:

  • You need a larger context window (16K vs 8K)

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo or Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct?

OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo is cheaper at $0.50/1M input tokens vs $0.51/1M for Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct.

Can OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo process images?

No, OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo does not support image input. Neither model supports image input.

Which has a larger context window, OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo or Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct?

OpenAI: GPT-3.5 Turbo has a larger context window at 16K compared to Meta: Llama 3 70B Instruct's 8K.

Related Comparisons

Benchmark data by Artificial Analysis

Data last synced: March 2026