Mistral Medium 3.5 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Aion-3.0 vs Mistral Medium 3.5
Pick Mistral Medium 3.5 when budget and context both matter.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Mistral Medium 3.5 when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Medium 3.5 is estimated at $5.25 vs $6 for Aion-3.0, saving $0.75 (12.5% lower).
Cost-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Context-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Sample savings$0.7512.5%
10x traffic gap$7.5
Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $7.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Mistral Medium 3.5, balanced workload favors Tie, and output-heavy chatbot favors Aion-3.0.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Aion-3.0 | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mistral Medium 3.5 | $18 | $11.25 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Tie | $9 | $9 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Aion-3.0 | $33 | $39 |
Aion-3.0 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Mistral Medium 3.5 is $0.75 cheaper on the standard workload (12.5% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Mistral Medium 3.5 has the lower input price; Aion-3.0 has the lower output price; Mistral Medium 3.5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Aion-3.0 and $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5.
Choose Aion-3.0 when you care most about lower output-token price.
Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Medium 3.5 is estimated at $5.25 vs $6 for Aion-3.0, saving $0.75 (12.5% lower).
- Mistral Medium 3.5 is $0.75 cheaper on the standard workload (12.5% lower).
- Mistral Medium 3.5 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- Aion-3.0 is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
- Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | Aion-3.0 (AionLabs) | Mistral Medium 3.5 (Mistral) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $3 | $1.5 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $6 | $7.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $6 | $5.25 |
| Context Window | 131.07K | 262.14K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mistral Medium 3.5 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Medium 3.5 is estimated at $5.25 vs $6 for Aion-3.0, saving $0.75 (12.5% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Aion-3.0 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Mistral Medium 3.5 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Aion-3.0-Mini can replace Aion-3.0 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.4.
- Aion-1.0-Mini can replace Aion-3.0 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.4.
- Aion-2.0 can replace Aion-3.0 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.6.
- Aion-RP 1.0 (8B) can replace Aion-3.0 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.6.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.11 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
- Hy3 · Tencent · #3
- Ox Alpha · stealth · #4
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