Llama 4 Maverick is Meta's best open-source model and runs free via Groq, Together AI, and Fireworks. GPT-5.4 is OpenAI's frontier paid API model. For most production use cases, GPT-5.4 wins on reliability and capability — but Llama 4 Maverick is a genuinely strong free alternative for developers who need low cost or on-premise deployment.
MetaBudget
Llama 4 Maverick
Best flexible option for teams that need open-weight portability.
VS
OpenAIPremium
GPT-5.4
Best for agentic automation and desktop control workflows.
Winner
At a glance
Llama 4 Maverick
GPT-5.4
Input cost / 1M tokens
$$0.60/1M
$$2.50/1M
Output cost / 1M tokens
$$1.60/1M
$$15.00/1M
Context window
256k tokens
272k tokens
Speed
Fast
Balanced
Price tier
Budget
Premium
Benchmarks
SWE-bench (coding)
32%
74.9%
Arena Elo
1,250
1,355
MMLU
85.5%
91%
How they compare
Which model wins for each use case — and why.
CodingGPT-5.4 wins
GPT-5.4 leads on SWE-bench (74.9%) vs Llama 4 Maverick (~50%). For production code, GPT-5.4 handles complex multi-file edits more reliably.
WritingGPT-5.4 wins
GPT-5.4 produces more consistent, polished prose. Llama 4 Maverick is capable but can be verbose and less tonally precise.
CostLlama 4 Maverick wins
Llama 4 Maverick is open-source and free via self-hosting, or extremely cheap (~$0.20/1M input) on inference providers. GPT-5.4 costs $2.50/1M.
Privacy / On-PremiseLlama 4 Maverick wins
Llama 4 Maverick can be self-hosted — your data never leaves your infrastructure. Essential for regulated industries and sensitive workloads.
ReliabilityGPT-5.4 wins
OpenAI's API has enterprise SLAs, fine-tuning support, and consistent output quality. Open-source hosting reliability depends on your infrastructure.
Which should you pick?
Pick Llama 4 Maverick if…
You're building at high volume and API costs are a real constraint
You need on-premise deployment for privacy or compliance reasons
You're a developer comfortable self-hosting or using inference APIs like Groq/Together
Our overall pick in this comparison. Against Llama 4 Maverick it costs about 87% more per token and takes 1x the context.
OpenAI's March 2026 flagship with desktop-control capabilities — it can see your screen, click, and navigate apps via the API. Since followed by GPT-5.5, the GPT-5.6 family and GPT-6.
Input
$2.50/1M
Output
$15.00/1M
Context
272k tokens
Speed
Balanced
What people actually use it for
Building agents that browse the web and operate desktop software autonomously via the API
Complex multi-step reasoning for financial modeling and decision analysis
Autonomous test-run-debug loops for coding with computer-use control
Where it wins
Only frontier model that can control a desktop via API (click, type, navigate)
Strong at multi-step agentic tasks and autonomous workflows
Competitive coding performance with 74.9% SWE-bench score
Where it falls down
Newer models — Claude Opus 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol — outperform it on coding benchmarks
Smaller context window (272K) than current 1M-token models
Skip it if
You need the highest current coding benchmark scores — Claude Opus 4.7 and GPT-5.5 are newer premium picks.
Our verdict
Still capable for desktop automation at its $2.50/$15 price, but superseded: GPT-6.1 Sol is stronger at $2/$10, and Claude Opus 5.5 leads coding.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the GPT-5.4 page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Llama as good as ChatGPT?
For general use, Llama 4 Maverick is competitive on many tasks but falls behind GPT-5.4 on complex coding, nuanced writing, and reliability. The gap has narrowed significantly in 2025-2026.
Is Llama 4 free?
Yes — Llama 4 is open-source (Meta license) and can be self-hosted for free. Hosted inference via Groq, Together AI, or Fireworks starts at ~$0.20/1M input tokens.
Which is better for developers — Llama or ChatGPT?
Depends on priorities. For maximum quality and simplicity, GPT-5.4. For cost efficiency, customisation, or on-premise deployment, Llama 4 Maverick is compelling.
Can I use Llama commercially?
Yes, Meta's Llama 4 license allows commercial use with some restrictions above 700M monthly users. For most businesses, it's fully free to use commercially.