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Llama 4 405B vs SmolLM2 1.7B

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Llama 4 405B specs · SmolLM2 1.7B specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceTie

    Neither model publishes per-token API pricing.

  • Context windowLlama 4 405B

    Llama 4 405B accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K, 31.3× 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.

  • ModalitiesLlama 4 405B

    Llama 4 405B supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for SmolLM2 1.7B.

  • OpennessTie

    Both ship open weights, self-host either one.

On balance Llama 4 405B edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against SmolLM2 1.7B's 0. Neither model publishes per-token API pricing. Llama 4 405B accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K, 31.3× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Llama 4 405B handles text, vision while SmolLM2 1.7B handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both ship open weights, self-host either one.

Llama 4 405B is the newer of the two, released 5 months after SmolLM2 1.7B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Llama 4 405B is usually picked for open source llm and fine tuning workloads, while SmolLM2 1.7B sees more deployments in on device and edge deployment. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecLlama 4 405BSmolLM2 1.7B
ProviderMetaOther
ReleasedApr 2025Nov 2024
Modalitiestext, visiontext
Context window256K tokens8.2K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1MPricing not publishedPricing not published
Output · 1MPricing not publishedPricing not published
Knowledge cutoff2024-12,
Open weightsYes (Llama 4 Community License)Yes (Apache-2.0)
API availableYesNo

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, vs ,
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs ,
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs ,

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Llama 4 405BPricing unavailable
  • SmolLM2 1.7BPricing unavailable

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Benchmark scores not yet available. We only publish numbers we can source from official model cards or independent leaderboards, see methodology.
Pick Llama 4 405B if

Llama 4 405B fits when…

  • Strongest open-weight model at launch
  • Multimodal (text + vision)
  • Wide hosting availability
  • Long-context tasks, handles 256K tokens vs 8.2K for SmolLM2 1.7B.
  • Multimodal needs covering vision.
Pick SmolLM2 1.7B if

SmolLM2 1.7B fits when…

  • Truly tiny
  • Apache-2.0
  • Runs on phones
Don't want either?

Consider Llama 4 70B

Meta's mid-tier Llama 4, the practical workhorse for self-hosted deployments.

See Llama 4 70B specsLlama 4 405B vs Llama 4 70BSmolLM2 1.7B vs Llama 4 70B

Frequently asked

  • Is Llama 4 405B or SmolLM2 1.7B cheaper?
    Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Llama 4 405B accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K for SmolLM2 1.7B.
  • Is Llama 4 405B or SmolLM2 1.7B better for coding?
    Both Llama 4 405B and SmolLM2 1.7B 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. Llama 4 405B is licensed under Llama 4 Community License; SmolLM2 1.7B under Apache-2.0.
  • When were Llama 4 405B and SmolLM2 1.7B released?
    Llama 4 405B was released by Meta on 2025-04-05. SmolLM2 1.7B was released by Other on 2024-11-01.
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