North Mini Code (free) is free for input tokens while Perceptron Mk1 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
North Mini Code (free) vs Perceptron Mk1
Pick North Mini Code (free) 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 North Mini Code (free) when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, North Mini Code (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Perceptron Mk1, saving $0.9 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickNorth Mini Code (free)
Context-first pickNorth Mini Code (free)
Sample savings$0.9100%
10x traffic gap$9
North Mini Code (free) is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $9. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
North Mini Code (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | North Mini Code (free) | Perceptron Mk1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | North Mini Code (free) | $0 | $1.5 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | North Mini Code (free) | $0 | $1.65 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | North Mini Code (free) | $0 | $7.65 |
North Mini Code (free) is free for output tokens while Perceptron Mk1 costs $1.5 per 1M tokens.
North Mini Code (free) has 223.23K more context (7.81x larger).
North Mini Code (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.9.
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
North Mini Code (free) has the lower input price; North Mini Code (free) has the lower output price; North Mini Code (free) offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, North Mini Code (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for North Mini Code (free) and $0.9 for Perceptron Mk1.
Choose North Mini Code (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Perceptron Mk1 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, North Mini Code (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Perceptron Mk1, saving $0.9 (100% lower).
- North Mini Code (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $0.9.
- North Mini Code (free) is free for input tokens while Perceptron Mk1 costs $0.15 per 1M tokens.
- North Mini Code (free) is free for output tokens while Perceptron Mk1 costs $1.5 per 1M tokens.
- North Mini Code (free) has 223.23K more context (7.81x larger).
| Feature | North Mini Code (free) (Cohere) | Perceptron Mk1 (Perceptron) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0 | $0.15 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0 | $1.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0 | $0.9 |
| Context Window | 256K | 32.77K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | North Mini Code (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, North Mini Code (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.9 for Perceptron Mk1, saving $0.9 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | North Mini Code (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | North Mini Code (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | North Mini Code (free) | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- No lower-cost same-provider swap is currently tracked for this pair.
- 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.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
- Hy3 · Tencent · #3
- Ox Alpha · stealth · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
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Open provider hubsCohere catalog
Review all tracked Cohere models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Cohere modelsPerceptron catalog
Check other Perceptron models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Perceptron modelsNorth Mini Code is Cohere's first agentic coding model and the debut of its North family. A sparse mixture-of-experts model with 30B total parameters and 3B active, it is optimized...
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