Llama 4 Review

Meta's open-weights multimodal LLM

At a glance

Category: Text & Copy. Editor rating: 4.0/10, based on hands-on testing. Pricing: free.

Meta's flagship open-weights LLM family, Scout (17B active) and Maverick, the first natively multimodal Llama models with mixture-of-experts architecture and unprecedented context length.

Editor's note: Best for Self-hosted deployments where data must not leave your infra. The main caveat: 405b model needs serious infrastructure to run yourself.

Strengths

• Open weights up to 405B parameters, full commercial use
• Strong base for fine-tuning, thousands of community variants
• Runs on consumer hardware (8B at 16GB VRAM)
• Supported on every major hosting platform (Together, Replicate, etc.)

Weaknesses

• 405B model needs serious infrastructure to run yourself
• Out-of-the-box behavior trails GPT-4 on many benchmarks
• No native multimodal support in main releases

Best for

• Self-hosted deployments where data must not leave your infra
• Fine-tuning a base model for a specific domain

Use cases

• Self-hosted deployments where data must not leave your infra
• Fine-tuning a base model for a specific domain

What is Llama 4?

Llama 4 is a text & copy tool. Meta's open-weights multimodal LLM.

How much does Llama 4 cost?

Llama 4 is free. Pricing can change, always check the vendor's site for the latest plans before signing up.

Is Llama 4 free?

Yes, Llama 4 is free to use. There may be optional paid add-ons or higher-volume tiers, but the core product can be used at no cost.

What can I use Llama 4 for?

Common use cases include Self-hosted deployments where data must not leave your infra, and Fine-tuning a base model for a specific domain.

What is Llama 4 best at?

Reviewers single out Open weights up to 405B parameters, full commercial use; Strong base for fine-tuning, thousands of community variants; Runs on consumer hardware (8B at 16GB VRAM).