# Darwin-36B-Opus vs LFM3-1.7B (slim)

> Darwin-36B-Opus and LFM3-1.7B score within a point of each other for open-weight models you run yourself, 61 and 61 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/darwin-36b-opus-vs-lfm3-1-7b.md (~9,600 tokens) · this version ~780 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/darwin-36b-opus-vs-lfm3-1-7b.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/darwin-36b-opus-vs-lfm3-1-7b
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-10
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Darwin-36B-Opus and LFM3-1.7B score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61 (C) and 61 (C). LFM3-1.7B leads on reach, agent interface and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Darwin-36B-Opus: C 61, rank #43 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/darwin-36b-opus.min.md
- LFM3-1.7B: C 61, rank #69 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lfm3-1-7b.min.md
- Darwin-36B-Opus, good for Reasoning-heavy text tasks on a 32 GB machine or a single 80 GB GPU, where a disclosed training method isn't required Ahead on Risk, 55 against 40.
- LFM3-1.7B, good for Agents on a laptop, phone or small server that need tool calling and a long context from a model under 2 GB at 4 bits Ahead on Reach, 85 against 80; Agent interface, 100 against 70; Documentation and upkeep, 67 against 61.

| Category | Darwin-36B-Opus | LFM3-1.7B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 80 | 85 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 40 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 70 | 100 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 61 | 67 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Darwin-36B-Opus | LFM3-1.7B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | FINAL-Bench (VIDRAFT) | Liquid AI |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | LFM Open License v1.0 (free commercial use below $10M annual revenue) |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-04-23 | 2026-11-09 |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Agent interface, LFM3-1.7B +30: Darwin-36B-Opus 70 (Chat template 20, Qwen3.6's Jinja template in the repository.); LFM3-1.7B 100 (Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository (12,129 characters), with roles, tools, deferred tools, tool results and the thinking switch.)
- Risk, Darwin-36B-Opus +15: Darwin-36B-Opus 55 (File safety 25, safetensors and GGUF only with no code in the repository, so the card's trust_remote_code flag loads nothing extra.); LFM3-1.7B 40 (File safety 15, safetensors only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).)
- Documentation and upkeep, LFM3-1.7B +6: Darwin-36B-Opus 61 (Model card 11, it covers architecture, parameters, context and languages but not intended use, limitations or a knowledge cut-off.); LFM3-1.7B 67 (Model card 17, Intended use (local agents, tool calling, structured outputs, fine-tuning), a limitation (not recommended for agentic coding or complex multi-ste…)
- Reach, LFM3-1.7B +5: Darwin-36B-Opus 80 (Memory 20, the publisher's Q4_K_M GGUF is 21.2 GB and needs about 25.4 GB with the fifth added, so 32 GB.); LFM3-1.7B 85 (Memory 30, Liquid's Q4_K_M GGUF is 1.10 GB, and 1.10 GB × 1.2 = 1.3 GB, which fits 8 GB, well inside the 16 GB line.)