Command R vs Jamba 1.5 Large
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Command R specs · Jamba 1.5 Large specs- PriceCommand R
Command R is roughly 5.3× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $8.00 per 1M).
- Context windowJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesTie
Both handle text.
- OpennessTie
Both ship open weights, self-host either one.
It's a genuine coin-flip between Command R and Jamba 1.5 Large: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. Command R is roughly 5.3× cheaper on output tokens ($1.50 vs $8.00 per 1M). Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 128K, 2.0× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both ship open weights, self-host either one.
Jamba 1.5 Large is the newer of the two, released 5 months after Command R, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Command R is usually picked for rag and customer support workloads, while Jamba 1.5 Large sees more deployments in long context and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command R | Jamba 1.5 Large |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere | AI21 |
| Released | Mar 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| Modalities | text | text |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 256K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | $0.50 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $1.50 / 1M tokens | $8.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | Yes (CC-BY-NC 4.0) | Yes (Jamba Open Model License) |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$3.75 vs $18.00
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$37.50 vs $180
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$84.00 vs $348
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $3.75 vs $18.00 per month, model A comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $37.50 vs $180 per month, model A comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $84.00 vs $348 per month, model A comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Command R$0.125
- Jamba 1.5 Large$0.600
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
Command R fits when…
- Cheap RAG
- Reliable tool-use
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 5.3× cheaper than Jamba 1.5 Large on output tokens.
Jamba 1.5 Large fits when…
- 256k context
- Efficient long-context inference
- Open weights
- Long-context tasks, handles 256K tokens vs 128K for Command R.
Consider Command R+ (08-2024)
Cohere's flagship optimized for RAG and tool use in enterprise settings.
Frequently asked
Is Command R or Jamba 1.5 Large cheaper?
Command R is cheaper at $1.50 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $8.00 / 1M tokens for Jamba 1.5 Large.Which has the larger context window?
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 128K for Command R.Is Command R or Jamba 1.5 Large better for coding?
Both Command R and Jamba 1.5 Large are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Both ship with open weights. Command R is licensed under CC-BY-NC 4.0; Jamba 1.5 Large under Jamba Open Model License.When were Command R and Jamba 1.5 Large released?
Command R was released by Cohere on 2024-03-11. Jamba 1.5 Large was released by AI21 on 2024-08-22.
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