API cost decision in 10 seconds

Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) vs Mistral Large 3 2512

Pick Mistral Large 3 2512 for lower cost; pick Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Mistral Large 3 2512 for lower cost; pick Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 3 2512 is estimated at $1.25 vs $105 for Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast), saving $103.75 (98.8% lower).

Cost-first pickMistral Large 3 2512

Context-first pickClaude Opus 4.6 (Fast)

Sample savings$103.7598.8%

10x traffic gap$1037.5

Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) has more context, but Mistral Large 3 2512 saves $103.75 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1037.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Mistral Large 3 2512 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast)	Mistral Large 3 2512
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Mistral Large 3 2512	$225	$3.25
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Mistral Large 3 2512	$180	$2
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Mistral Large 3 2512	$780	$8

Cheaper input Mistral Large 3 2512 $30 vs $0.5 / 1M

Mistral Large 3 2512 is $29.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.3% lower; 60x difference).

Cheaper output Mistral Large 3 2512 $150 vs $1.5 / 1M

Mistral Large 3 2512 is $148.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99% lower; 100x difference).

Larger context Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) 1M vs 262.14K

Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Sample workload Mistral Large 3 2512 $105 vs $1.25

Mistral Large 3 2512 is $103.75 cheaper on the standard workload (98.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) Calculating… Estimated API cost

Mistral Large 3 2512 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

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

Verdict

Mistral Large 3 2512 has the lower input price; Mistral Large 3 2512 has the lower output price; Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Large 3 2512 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $105 for Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) and $1.25 for Mistral Large 3 2512.

Best Fit

Choose Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Mistral Large 3 2512 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 3 2512 is estimated at $1.25 vs $105 for Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast), saving $103.75 (98.8% lower).
Mistral Large 3 2512 is $103.75 cheaper on the standard workload (98.8% lower).
Mistral Large 3 2512 is $29.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.3% lower; 60x difference).
Mistral Large 3 2512 is $148.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99% lower; 100x difference).
Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) (Anthropic)	Mistral Large 3 2512 (Mistral)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$30	$0.5
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$150	$1.5
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$105	$1.25
Context Window	1M	262.14K
Release Date	2026-04-07	2025-12-01

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Mistral Large 3 2512	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 3 2512 is estimated at $1.25 vs $105 for Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast), saving $103.75 (98.8% lower).
High-volume input processing	Mistral Large 3 2512	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Mistral Large 3 2512	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast)	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Claude 3 Haiku can replace Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.88.
Claude 3.5 Haiku can replace Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.8.
Anthropic Claude Haiku Latest can replace Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $3.5.
Claude Haiku 4.5 can replace Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $3.5.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
OpenAI GPT Latest offers 1.05M context with $20 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Anthropic catalog

Review all tracked Anthropic models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Mistral catalog

Check other Mistral models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Mistral models

Claude Opus 4.6 (Fast)

Fast-mode variant of [Opus 4.6](/anthropic/claude-opus-4.6) - identical capabilities with higher output speed at premium 6x pricing. Learn more in Anthropic's docs: https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/fast-mode

Mistral Large 3 2512

Mistral Large 3 2512 is Mistral’s most capable model to date, featuring a sparse mixture-of-experts architecture with 41B active parameters (675B total), and released under the Apache 2.0 license.