Llama 2
Llama 2 was Meta's second-generation open-weight large language model family, released in 2023 in 7B, 13B and 70B parameter sizes under Meta's own community license. It has since been superseded by later Llama releases such as Llama 3.2 and 3.3, and by 2026 Meta shifted its frontier research toward Muse Spark, a proprietary, cloud-only model line with no downloadable weights. Llama 2's weights remain downloadable and it still runs on tools like Ollama, but it no longer receives active development.
Facts checked on against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Newer version available. Llama 2 has been superseded by newer Llama releases (Llama 3.2 and 3.3 are commonly recommended migration targets) and receives no further development. In April 2026 Meta announced Muse Spark, a proprietary, cloud-only model line built by Meta Superintelligence Labs, marking a broader shift away from Meta's open-weight Llama strategy; there is no direct migration path from Llama to Muse Spark given their different architectures. See Meta Muse Spark.
- Pricing
- Open sourceFree plan: Yes, weights are free to download under Meta's community license
- Open source
- NoLlama 2 Community License (source-available, with usage restrictions above a user threshold)
- GitHub stars
- 59,618
A good fit for
- Historical reference or benchmarking against newer open-weight models
- Legacy projects already built on Llama 2 that haven't yet migrated
- Learning how open-weight LLMs of its era were licensed and structured
Not a good fit for
- New projects, which should use a current model such as a newer Llama release or another actively developed open-weight model
- Anyone wanting Meta's latest research, which as of 2026 is concentrated in the proprietary, cloud-only Muse Spark line rather than open Llama weights
- Applications needing state-of-the-art quality, since newer open and proprietary models outperform Llama 2 substantially
Llama 2 pricing
Llama 2's weights are free to download under Meta's community license, though the license restricts use by companies above a certain size. Running it costs only whatever compute (local hardware or cloud) you use.
Prices in USD, checked on 27 September 2026. Current prices on ai.meta.com.
Main features
- Multiple model sizes
- Released in 7B, 13B and 70B parameter versions, plus chat-tuned variants.
- Downloadable weights
- Model weights can be downloaded and run on your own hardware or through cloud providers.
- Runs on local tools
- Still runnable through tools like Ollama and available on Hugging Face.
- Fine-tuning base
- Widely used as a starting point for fine-tuned and derivative open models.
About Llama 2
Llama 2 was released by Meta in July 2023 as an open-weight successor to the original LLaMA model, available in 7B, 13B and 70B parameter sizes, along with chat-tuned variants. Its weights could be downloaded and run on your own hardware or through major cloud providers, under a community license that restricted use for very large companies.
It was widely used as a base for fine-tuning and as a benchmark for open-weight model performance, and remains available on model hubs like Hugging Face and runnable through tools like Ollama, though it has been overtaken in capability by later Llama releases.
Meta continued the Llama line through versions 3, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3, but in April 2026 announced Muse Spark, a proprietary, cloud-only model line from Meta Superintelligence Labs with no downloadable weights, signaling a shift away from the open-weight strategy Llama 2 was part of.
- Made by
- Meta
- Launched
- 2023
- Free plan
- Yes, weights are free to download under Meta's community license
- Available on
- Self-hosted, Ollama, Hugging Face, Major cloud providers
Llama 2 alternatives
Llama 2 compared
Questions about Llama 2
Is Llama 2 still available?
Yes, its weights can still be downloaded and it still runs on tools like Ollama, but it receives no further development and has been superseded by newer Llama releases.
What should I use instead of Llama 2?
Later Llama releases such as Llama 3.2 or 3.3 are the direct upgrade path for open-weight use. Meta's newest research, Muse Spark, is a separate, proprietary, cloud-only model line with no downloadable weights.
Is Llama 2 open source?
Its weights are free to download and use under Meta's own community license, but that license includes usage restrictions (for example on very large companies), so it's more accurately described as source-available rather than fully open source.
What is Meta Muse Spark?
Muse Spark is Meta's proprietary, cloud-only model line announced in April 2026, built by Meta Superintelligence Labs. Unlike Llama, it has no downloadable weights and there is no direct migration path from Llama models to it.
Sources and links
- Meta Llama
- Llama (language model), Wikipedia
- Meta abandons open-source Llama for proprietary Muse Spark, The New Stack
Work on Llama 2? Claim this listing. Something wrong or out of date? Suggest a correction. Stats come from the public GitHub and npm APIs and update every day.