Llama 4 Maverick vs Muse Spark 1.1

Meta · US  |  Meta · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Both are Meta models. Muse Spark 1.1 is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Llama 4 Maverick when its lower price or a specific cost or latency profile matters more than the latest capabilities.

Llama 4 Maverick and Muse Spark 1.1 are both Meta models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Llama 4 Maverick is meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. Muse Spark 1.1 is meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecLlama 4 MaverickMuse Spark 1.1
ProviderMeta (US) Meta (US)
ReleasedApril 2025 July 9, 2026
Context window1M (~1,500 pages) 1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)Open weight (self-host / free) $1.25/$4.25 per 1M tokens
Open weight?Yes — self-hostable No — API only
Modalitiestext, image, code text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published 54.1%

Who wins what

Open weights, 1M context

Llama 4 Maverick

Open weights make this possible at all — Muse Spark 1.1 is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.

Strong image + text understanding

Llama 4 Maverick

Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments — and its weights are open while Muse Spark 1.1 is API-only.

Self-hostable

Llama 4 Maverick

Muse Spark 1.1 is comparatively weak here — closed weights end the free, self-hostable Llama path — this is the first model Meta has charged for

Scaled tool use — 88.1 on MCP Atlas, ahead of Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 (vendor-reported)

Muse Spark 1.1

Meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding — and it is the newer of the two.

Subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck

Muse Spark 1.1

Muse Spark 1.1 lists subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.

Professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported)

Muse Spark 1.1

Muse Spark 1.1 lists professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported) among its strengths; Llama 4 Maverick does not.

Lowest cost at scale

Llama 4 Maverick

Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Muse Spark 1.1's $1.25/$4.25 per 1M tokens.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

Llama 4 Maverick

At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Muse Spark 1.1, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Muse Spark 1.1

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs

Llama 4 Maverick

Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Muse Spark 1.1 is API-only.

Anyone whose priority is open weights, 1m context

Llama 4 Maverick

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported)

Muse Spark 1.1

That is its strongest area.

Llama 4 Maverick: where it fits

Meta's open-weight 1M-context multimodal model for self-hosted deployments. Released April 2025 by Meta, it is built for open weights, 1M context, strong image + text understanding, self-hostable, and 400B MoE, 17B active.

Its trade-offs are real: needs serious hardware to self-host, and trails closed frontier on reasoning. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.

Muse Spark 1.1: where it fits

Meta's first paid, closed-weight frontier model — class-leading agentic tool use at a quarter of rivals' price, but it trails on coding. Released July 9, 2026 by Meta, it is built for scaled tool use — 88.1 on MCP Atlas, ahead of Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 (vendor-reported), subagent orchestration — trained to run as a main agent or a subagent that escalates when stuck, professional agentic work — 54.7 on JobBench, a wide margin over rivals (vendor-reported), and managing its own context: it compacts the 1M window mid-run instead of relying on external windowing.

Its trade-offs: not the coding leader its launch framing implied — Meta's own report concedes it trails Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 on every coding benchmark, the 1M window oversells its recall: 54.1 on MRCR v2 at 1M against GPT-5.5's 74.0, closed weights end the free, self-hostable Llama path — this is the first model Meta has charged for, and uS-only public preview behind a waitlist, and every benchmark is vendor-reported with no third-party replication. At $1.25 in / $4.25 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.

The bottom line for this matchup

Because Llama 4 Maverick and Muse Spark 1.1 come from the same lab (Meta), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Muse Spark 1.1 is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Muse Spark 1.1 and drop down only with a concrete reason.

Want both Llama 4 Maverick and Muse Spark 1.1 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 pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Llama 4 Maverick or Muse Spark 1.1 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, Llama 4 Maverick leans toward open weights, 1m context while Muse Spark 1.1 leans toward scaled tool use — 88.1 on mcp atlas, ahead of opus 4.8 and gpt-5.5 (vendor-reported), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, Llama 4 Maverick or Muse Spark 1.1?

Llama 4 Maverick is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Muse Spark 1.1 is API-metered at $1.25/$4.25 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.

Which has the bigger context window?

Effectively neither — 1M vs 1M is a difference of a few percent. Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.

Should I upgrade from Llama 4 Maverick to Muse Spark 1.1?

Since both are Meta models, the newer one (Muse Spark 1.1) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.

Which is newer, Llama 4 Maverick or Muse Spark 1.1?

Muse Spark 1.1 — released July 9, 2026, about 15 months after Llama 4 Maverick.

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.