# Llama 3.2 3B vs Yi-Lightning

> Yi-Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.5 to 28.4 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/llama-3-2-3b-vs-yi-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Llama 3.2 3B scores higher in 1 category and Yi-Lightning in 7 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Yi-Lightning leads 50.4 to 24.9.
- Llama 3.2 3B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | 01.AI |
| Noometry Index | 28.4 | 36.5 |
| Rank | 318 | 206 |
| Context | 131K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.33 | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Llama 3.2 3B: 27.1 (#314)
- Yi-Lightning: 27.0 (#315)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1098 | 1313 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 12.9% |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 23.4% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 28.3% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Llama 3.2 3B: 19.9 (#135)
- Yi-Lightning: —

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 21.9% | — |
| BALROG | 10.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Llama 3.2 3B: 20.1 (#225)
- Yi-Lightning: 24.9 (#137)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1095 | 1302 |

## Math

- Llama 3.2 3B: 29.9 (#213)
- Yi-Lightning: 33.5 (#173)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1126 | 1300 |

## Knowledge

- Llama 3.2 3B: 29.1 (#232)
- Yi-Lightning: 34.8 (#182)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1090 | 1286 |

## Multilingual

- Llama 3.2 3B: 26.4 (#276)
- Yi-Lightning: 42.4 (#191)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1019 | 1269 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1017 | 1320 |
| LMArena German | 1056 | 1267 |
| LMArena Russian | 949 | 1255 |
| LMArena French | — | 1304 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1228 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1192 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1315 |

## Instruction Following

- Llama 3.2 3B: 56.3 (#270)
- Yi-Lightning: 67.6 (#191)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1089 | 1278 |

## Long Context

- Llama 3.2 3B: 33.4 (#256)
- Yi-Lightning: 39.4 (#176)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1101 | 1297 |

## Writing & Preference

- Llama 3.2 3B: 24.9 (#302)
- Yi-Lightning: 50.4 (#178)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1110 | 1302 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1094 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1105 | 1311 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 595 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Llama 3.2 3B better than Yi-Lightning?

Yi-Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.5 to 28.4 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Llama 3.2 3B or Yi-Lightning better for coding?

They score almost the same on coding (27.1 vs 27.0); test both on your own repository before choosing.

### How many benchmarks do Llama 3.2 3B and Yi-Lightning share?

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Llama 3.2 3B has 18 scored results on Noometry and Yi-Lightning has 18.