Molmo 72B vs Yi-Lightning
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
Molmo 72B specs · Yi-Lightning specs- PriceYi-Lightning
Yi-Lightning publishes pricing ($0.14 / 1M output tokens) while Molmo 72B does not.
- Context windowYi-Lightning
Yi-Lightning accepts 16K tokens vs 4K, 4.0× 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.
- ModalitiesMolmo 72B
Molmo 72B supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Yi-Lightning.
- OpennessMolmo 72B
Molmo 72B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Yi-Lightning is API-only.
It's a genuine coin-flip between Molmo 72B and Yi-Lightning: 2 category wins each, with the rest tied. Yi-Lightning publishes pricing ($0.14 / 1M output tokens) while Molmo 72B does not. Yi-Lightning accepts 16K tokens vs 4K, 4.0× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Molmo 72B handles text, vision while Yi-Lightning handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Molmo 72B ships open weights (Apache-2.0); Yi-Lightning is API-only.
Both shipped within roughly a month of each other in 2024, so they share the same generation of training data and tooling. Molmo 72B is usually picked for vision and open source llm workloads, while Yi-Lightning sees more deployments in chinese llm and cheapest llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Molmo 72B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Other | Other |
| Released | Sep 2024 | Oct 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
| Context window | 4K tokens | 16K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | Pricing not published | $0.14 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | Pricing not published | $0.14 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | Yes (Apache-2.0) | No |
| API available | No | 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, vs $0.630
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs $6.30
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs $21.84
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).
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Molmo 72BPricing unavailable
- Yi-Lightning$0.021
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
Molmo 72B fits when…
- Fully open (data + code + weights)
- Apache-2.0
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Apache-2.0).
- Multimodal needs covering vision.
Yi-Lightning fits when…
- Cheap
- Strong Chinese
- Fast
- Long-context tasks, handles 16K tokens vs 4K for Molmo 72B.
Consider DBRX
Databricks' 132B MoE, a notable 2024 open-weight release tuned for enterprise.
Frequently asked
Is Molmo 72B or Yi-Lightning 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?
Yi-Lightning accepts 16K tokens vs 4K for Molmo 72B.Is Molmo 72B or Yi-Lightning better for coding?
Both Molmo 72B and Yi-Lightning 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?
Molmo 72B ships open weights (Apache-2.0). Yi-Lightning is API-only.When were Molmo 72B and Yi-Lightning released?
Molmo 72B was released by Other on 2024-09-25. Yi-Lightning was released by Other on 2024-10-16.
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