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Models / Meta / Llama Guard 4 12B

Llama Guard 4 12B APIOPEN WEIGHTS164K context

by Meta · text+image->text · released 2025-04-30

Llama Guard 4 is a Llama 4 Scout-derived multimodal pretrained model, fine-tuned for content safety classification.

Get an API key Try in Chat https://api.datallmlab.com/v1
Input / 1M
$0.18
Output / 1M
$0.18
Context
164K
Providers
2
HF downloads · 30d
153.6K
Cheaper than
91% of catalog

Pricing & specs mirror our live pricing as of July 2026 (pay-as-you-go).

What is Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama Guard 4 is a Llama 4 Scout-derived multimodal pretrained model, fine-tuned for content safety classification. Similar to previous versions, it can be used to classify content in both LLM...

Llama Guard 4 12B on the release timeline

$0.03$0.13$0.60Llama Guard 4 12B · $0.182024-042024-092025-04
Each point is a Meta model, placed at its launch date with its current output price (log scale, $/1M). Bubble size ∝ context window; Llama Guard 4 12B is highlighted. Source: provider catalog, verified July 2026.

Llama Guard 4 12B pricing

Pay-as-you-go on DataLLM Lab — these are our live list prices (identical to the pricing page):

ModelInput / 1MOutput / 1MCache readCache writeContext
Llama Guard 4 12B$0.18$0.18164K

On output price, Llama Guard 4 12B is cheaper than 91% of the 309 models in the catalog. It is served by 2 providers; the best combined rate at our last snapshot was ≈ $0.18 / $0.18 per 1M via DeepInfra, with upstream quantizations bf16.

What Llama Guard 4 12B costs per month

WorkloadTokens in / out (monthly)Est. cost
Support chatbot40M / 12M$9.36
RAG / knowledge base200M / 20M$39.60
Coding agent80M / 25M$18.90
Batch extraction150M / 8M$28.44
Content generation20M / 40M$10.80

Estimate your own monthly cost

= input × $0.18 + output × $0.18 per 1M · pay-as-you-go, computed in your browser.

Cost = input price × input volume + output price × output volume. The same five workloads run on every model page, so any two compare directly.

Llama Guard 4 12B vs alternatives

Pick Llama Guard 4 12B when you want open weights you can also self-host. If price is the only priority, Llama 3 8B Instruct is cheaper per token.
ModelInput / 1MOutput / 1MContextOur test
Llama Guard 4 12B$0.18$0.18164K
Llama 3.2 1B Instruct$0.03$0.20131K
Llama 3 8B Instruct$0.14$0.148K
Llama 4 Scout$0.10$0.3010M
DeepSeek V4 Flash$0.09$0.181M9/9
Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507$0.05$0.19131K

Specs

Model IDmeta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b
Modalitytext+image->text (input: image, text)
Context window163,840 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens
Tool / function calling
Structured output (JSON)✅ Yes
Released2025-04-30
Knowledge cutoff2024-08-31
Open weightsmeta-llama/Llama-Guard-4-12B · 153.6K downloads / 107 likes (30d)

How to call Llama Guard 4 12B

from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.datallmlab.com/v1", api_key="YOUR_DATALLM_LAB_KEY")
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="meta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)
curl https://api.datallmlab.com/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"meta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Hello"}]}'
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({ baseURL: "https://api.datallmlab.com/v1", apiKey: process.env.DATALLM_KEY });
const r = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "meta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b",
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }],
});
console.log(r.choices[0].message.content);

The same key routes Llama Guard 4 12B and 300+ other models — switch models by changing one string. How OpenAI-compatible APIs work.

Prompting tips for Llama Guard 4 12B

Tips are derived from Llama Guard 4 12B's actual capabilities — context window, tool & JSON support, modality and price tier — not generic advice.

Open-source tools for Llama Guard 4 12B

Popular open-source projects for running and building with Llama Guard 4 12B — star counts pulled from GitHub (July 2026).

ollama/ollama★ 175.3K
Get up and running with Kimi-K2.6, GLM-5.1, MiniMax, DeepSeek, gpt-oss, Qwen, Gemma and other models.
Go
langgenius/dify★ 147.5K
Production-ready platform for agentic workflow development.
TypeScript
open-webui/open-webui★ 144.0K
User-friendly AI Interface (Supports Ollama, OpenAI API, ...)
Python
langchain-ai/langchain★ 140.8K
The agent engineering platform.
Python
ggml-org/llama.cpp★ 119.1K
LLM inference in C/C++
C++
vllm-project/vllm★ 85.2K
A high-throughput and memory-efficient inference and serving engine for LLMs
Python

Listed by GitHub stars; inclusion is by ecosystem relevance (inference engines, agent frameworks and SDKs), not affiliation. Stars change — see each repo for current numbers.

Migrating to Llama Guard 4 12B

Coming from OpenAI or another gateway? On an OpenAI-compatible setup the only changes are base_url → https://api.datallmlab.com/v1 and model → meta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b. Messages, streaming and the rest of your code stay the same. Routing & failover guide.

Self-host or use the API?

Llama Guard 4 12B ships open weights (meta-llama/Llama-Guard-4-12B, ~153.6K downloads and 107 likes in the last 30 days), with community quantizations (bf16) for smaller GPUs, so you can run it yourself. Most teams still use the API: no GPU to provision or keep warm, no inference ops, and instant access across 2 providers with automatic failover. Self-host when data residency or fixed per-token economics matter most.

Rate limits & reliability

Rate limits here are the DataLLM Lab gateway's, not the upstream vendor's. On 429 (rate limited) or 503 (provider busy), retry with exponential backoff; because Llama Guard 4 12B is served by 2 providers, requests can fail over to a healthy one automatically. See the error-code guide and failover setup.

Related reading

Best Open Source LLMs
DataLLM Lab Blog
Ollama Alternatives
DataLLM Lab Blog
How OpenAI-Compatible APIs Work
DataLLM Lab Blog

Call Llama Guard 4 12B with one key

300+ models behind one OpenAI-compatible endpoint — better prices, better uptime, no subscriptions.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Llama Guard 4 12B?

Llama Guard 4 is a Llama 4 Scout-derived multimodal pretrained model, fine-tuned for content safety classification. It accepts image, text input with a 164K-token context window and was released on 2025-04-30. On DataLLM Lab it is callable through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

How much does Llama Guard 4 12B cost?

On DataLLM Lab it is $0.18 per 1M input tokens and $0.18 per 1M output tokens — cheaper than about 91% of the 309-model catalog on output price. Pay-as-you-go, no subscription.

What is the context window of Llama Guard 4 12B?

164K tokens, with up to 16K max output tokens.

Is Llama Guard 4 12B open source?

Yes — open weights are published on Hugging Face (meta-llama/Llama-Guard-4-12B), with about 153.6K downloads and 107 likes in the last 30 days. You can self-host it or call it via DataLLM Lab.

How do I call the Llama Guard 4 12B API?

Point any OpenAI SDK at https://api.datallmlab.com/v1 and set model to "meta-llama/llama-guard-4-12b". One DataLLM Lab key routes this model and 300+ others; no code changes beyond the base URL and model string.

What are good alternatives to Llama Guard 4 12B?

Close options by price and capability include Llama 3.2 1B Instruct, Llama 3 8B Instruct, Llama 4 Scout — all callable with the same DataLLM Lab key.