LFM3-1.7B vs Muse Glimmer
Liquid AI · US | Meta · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick LFM3-1.7B for very small open-weight text model - about 1.73b parameters with a 256k-token context for on-device use or liquid says it can power agentic applications that used to need 9b parameters. Pick Muse Glimmer for runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer gpu - fits 24gb of vram in 4-bit or open weights (apache 2.0), free to self-host and offline-capable - data never leaves your machine.
LFM3-1.7B (Liquid AI) and Muse Glimmer (Meta) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. LFM3-1.7B is liquid AI's October 27, 2026 on-device text model - about 1.73B parameters and 256K context, with open weights under a license capped at $10M annual revenue. Muse Glimmer is meta's open ~30B agentic model - runs tool-using AI agents locally on a single consumer GPU, offline and free, though it trails frontier cloud models. Their biggest split is context window, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Context window: LFM3-1.7B holds 2× more — 256K tokens (~384 pages) vs 128K (~197 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: LFM3-1.7B is the newer model by about 3 months (released October 27, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | LFM3-1.7B | Muse Glimmer |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Liquid AI (US) | Meta (US) |
| Released | October 27, 2026 | August 10, 2026 |
| Context window | 256K tokens (~384 pages) | 128K (~197 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | Open weight (self-host / free) | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text | text, image, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Very small open-weight text model - about 1.73B parameters with a 256K-token context for on-device use
LFM3-1.7B
Its 256K tokens window holds about 2× more than Muse Glimmer's 128K in a single prompt.
Liquid says it can power agentic applications that used to need 9B parameters
LFM3-1.7B
Liquid AI's October 27, 2026 on-device text model - about 1.73B parameters and 256K context, with open weights under a license capped at $10M annual revenue — and it carries the larger 256K tokens context.
Part of a six-model LFM3 family covering text, vision, audio, omni and decision tasks
LFM3-1.7B
Muse Glimmer is comparatively weak here — a distilled ~30B model - ceiling below its closed teacher (Muse Spark) and cloud flagships
Runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer GPU - fits 24GB of VRAM in 4-bit
Muse Glimmer
LFM3-1.7B is comparatively weak here — liquid says it is not recommended for agentic coding or complex multi-step reasoning because of its size
Open weights (Apache 2.0), free to self-host and offline-capable - data never leaves your machine
Muse Glimmer
Muse Glimmer lists open weights (Apache 2.0), free to self-host and offline-capable - data never leaves your machine among its strengths; LFM3-1.7B does not.
Agentic by design: tool use, coding, file and screenshot reading, multi-step failure recovery
Muse Glimmer
Muse Glimmer lists agentic by design: tool use, coding, file and screenshot reading, multi-step failure recovery among its strengths; LFM3-1.7B does not.
Largest single-prompt input
LFM3-1.7B
Its 256K tokens window is about 2× larger than Muse Glimmer's 128K, fitting roughly 384 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ LFM3-1.7B
Larger 256K tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is very small open-weight text model - about 1.73b parameters with a 256k-token context for on-device use
→ LFM3-1.7B
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer gpu - fits 24gb of vram in 4-bit
→ Muse Glimmer
That is its strongest area.
LFM3-1.7B: where it fits
Liquid AI's October 27, 2026 on-device text model - about 1.73B parameters and 256K context, with open weights under a license capped at $10M annual revenue. Released October 27, 2026 by Liquid AI, it is built for very small open-weight text model - about 1.73B parameters with a 256K-token context for on-device use, liquid says it can power agentic applications that used to need 9B parameters, part of a six-model LFM3 family covering text, vision, audio, omni and decision tasks, and supports 16 languages.
Its trade-offs are real: lFM Open License v1.0 covers commercial use only below $10M annual revenue; larger firms need a paid license, liquid says it is not recommended for agentic coding or complex multi-step reasoning because of its size, text-only; vision and audio need other LFM3 checkpoints, and no published per-token API price found. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Muse Glimmer: where it fits
Meta's open ~30B agentic model - runs tool-using AI agents locally on a single consumer GPU, offline and free, though it trails frontier cloud models. Released August 10, 2026 by Meta, it is built for runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer GPU - fits 24GB of VRAM in 4-bit, open weights (Apache 2.0), free to self-host and offline-capable - data never leaves your machine, agentic by design: tool use, coding, file and screenshot reading, multi-step failure recovery, and 128K context, text and image input, trained on 100+ languages.
Its trade-offs: a distilled ~30B model - ceiling below its closed teacher (Muse Spark) and cloud flagships, no independent Artificial Analysis intelligence score published yet, published benchmarks (e.g. SWE-Bench Verified 76.0) are Meta's own, and 4-bit quantization to fit consumer GPUs trades away some accuracy. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
LFM3-1.7B and Muse Glimmer overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. LFM3-1.7B holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — LFM3-1.7B for very small open-weight text model - about 1.73b parameters with a 256k-token context for on-device use, Muse Glimmer for runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer gpu - fits 24gb of vram in 4-bit. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both LFM3-1.7B and Muse Glimmer without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is LFM3-1.7B or Muse Glimmer better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, LFM3-1.7B leans toward very small open-weight text model - about 1.73b parameters with a 256k-token context for on-device use while Muse Glimmer leans toward runs real agentic tasks locally on one consumer gpu - fits 24gb of vram in 4-bit, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, LFM3-1.7B or Muse Glimmer?
They are priced almost identically, so cost will not decide between them.
Which has the bigger context window?
LFM3-1.7B — 256K tokens vs 128K, about 2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both LFM3-1.7B and Muse Glimmer together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you LFM3-1.7B, Muse Glimmer and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, LFM3-1.7B or Muse Glimmer?
LFM3-1.7B — released October 27, 2026, about 3 months after Muse Glimmer.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.