# SmolLM3-3B vs ZAYA1-8B (slim)

> SmolLM3-3B and ZAYA1-8B 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/smollm3-3b-vs-zaya1-8b.md (~8,950 tokens) · this version ~680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smollm3-3b-vs-zaya1-8b.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smollm3-3b-vs-zaya1-8b
- 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
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SmolLM3-3B and ZAYA1-8B score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61 (C) and 61 (C). Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- SmolLM3-3B: C 61, rank #55 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smollm3-3b.min.md
- ZAYA1-8B: C 61, rank #85 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zaya1-8b.min.md
- SmolLM3-3B, good for Agents that want a small, fully transparent tool-calling cousin on a laptop, CPU or edge device Ahead on Reach, 85 against 80; Risk, 65 against 55; Agent interface, 80 against 60; Documentation and upkeep, 74 against 50.
- ZAYA1-8B, good for People who want a small, fast reasoning model for maths and code and can live without tool calling

| Category | SmolLM3-3B | ZAYA1-8B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 85 | 80 |
| Risk (20%) | 65 | 55 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 80 | 60 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 74 | 50 |

| Fact (where they differ) | SmolLM3-3B | ZAYA1-8B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Hugging Face | Zyphra |
| Last release | 2025-09-10 | 2026-07-02 |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Documentation and upkeep, SmolLM3-3B +24: SmolLM3-3B 74 (Model card 14, it covers limitations, architecture, parameters, context and languages but has no intended-use section and leaves the June 2025 cut-off to the ch…); ZAYA1-8B 50 (Model card 5, Intended use and the parameter counts are on the card.)
- Agent interface, SmolLM3-3B +20: SmolLM3-3B 80 (Chat template 20, a Jinja file in the repository.); ZAYA1-8B 60 (Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository (10,700 characters).)
- Risk, SmolLM3-3B +10: SmolLM3-3B 65 (File safety 25, safetensors only and nothing from the repository runs on load or to build prompts.); ZAYA1-8B 55 (File safety 25, safetensors only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files and no Python in the repository.)
- Reach, SmolLM3-3B +5: SmolLM3-3B 85 (Memory 30, the smallest 4-bit build Hugging Face publishes is its own ONNX q4f16 at 2.1 GB, about 2.5 GB with the fifth added, and the full BF16 files that the…); ZAYA1-8B 80 (Memory 30, the smallest build from Zyphra is the MXFP4-Experts repository, 5.85 GB, and 5.85 GB × 1.2 = 7.0 GB, within 16 GB.)