Starcoder2 15B vs Moonlight 16B A3B
Side-by-side comparison of VRAM requirements, quantization, context length, and hardware compatibility.
Specifications
| Starcoder2 15B | Moonlight 16B A3B | |
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | 16.0B | 16.0B |
| Context | 16K | 8K |
| Architecture | Starcoder2ForCausalLM | DeepseekV3ForCausalLM |
| License | bigcode-openrail-m | MIT |
| Downloads | 8.4K | 72.7K |
| Released | Jun 2024 | Jan 2026 |
VRAM by Quantization: Starcoder2 15B vs Moonlight 16B A3B
| Quantization | Bits | Starcoder2 15B VRAM | Moonlight 16B A3B VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| BF16 | 16.00 | 32.4 GB | 32.7 GB |
Verdict
Starcoder2 15B needs less VRAM at BF16 (32.4 GB vs 32.7 GB), so it fits on smaller GPUs. Starcoder2 15B supports a longer context window (16K tokens). Moonlight 16B A3B is the more widely downloaded of the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which needs less VRAM, Starcoder2 15B or Moonlight 16B A3B?
At BF16, Starcoder2 15B needs 32.4 GB and Moonlight 16B A3B needs 32.7 GB, so Starcoder2 15B is the lighter option to run locally.
- Which has a longer context window, Starcoder2 15B or Moonlight 16B A3B?
Starcoder2 15B supports 16,384 tokens and Moonlight 16B A3B supports 8,192 tokens.
- What is the difference between Starcoder2 15B and Moonlight 16B A3B?
Starcoder2 15B is a 16.0B model from BigCode (StarCoder family), while Moonlight 16B A3B is a 16.0B model from Moonshot AI (Moonlight family). Compare their VRAM requirements above to see which fits your GPU or Mac.