API cost decision in 10 seconds

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct vs NewMistral Medium 3.5

Pick Llama 3.1 8B Instruct for lower cost; pick Mistral Medium 3.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Llama 3.1 8B Instruct for lower cost; pick Mistral Medium 3.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is estimated at $0.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.21 (99.1% lower).

Cost-first pickLlama 3.1 8B Instruct
Context-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Sample savings$5.2199.1%
10x traffic gap$52.05

Mistral Medium 3.5 has more context, but Llama 3.1 8B Instruct saves $5.21 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $52.05. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickLlama 3.1 8B InstructMistral Medium 3.5
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputLlama 3.1 8B Instruct$0.12$11.25
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputLlama 3.1 8B Instruct$0.07$9
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputLlama 3.1 8B Instruct$0.27$39
Cheaper input Llama 3.1 8B Instruct $0.02 vs $1.5 / 1M

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $1.48 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.7% lower; 75x difference).

Cheaper output Llama 3.1 8B Instruct $0.05 vs $7.5 / 1M

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $7.45 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99.3% lower; 150x difference).

Larger context Mistral Medium 3.5 131.07K vs 262.14K

Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Llama 3.1 8B Instruct $0.04 vs $5.25

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $5.21 cheaper on the standard workload (99.1% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct Calculating… Estimated API cost
Mistral Medium 3.5 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

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has the lower input price; Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has the lower output price; Mistral Medium 3.5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.04 for Llama 3.1 8B Instruct and $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5.

Best Fit

Choose Llama 3.1 8B Instruct when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is estimated at $0.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.21 (99.1% lower).
  • Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $5.21 cheaper on the standard workload (99.1% lower).
  • Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $1.48 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.7% lower; 75x difference).
  • Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is $7.45 cheaper per 1M output tokens (99.3% lower; 150x difference).
  • Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureLlama 3.1 8B Instruct
(Meta)		NewMistral Medium 3.5
(Mistral)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.02$1.5
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$0.05$7.5
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.04$5.25
Context Window131.07K262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#40#47

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionLlama 3.1 8B InstructOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is estimated at $0.04 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.21 (99.1% lower).
High-volume input processingLlama 3.1 8B InstructLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsLlama 3.1 8B InstructLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workMistral Medium 3.5A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Llama 3.3 70B Instruct (free) can replace Llama 3.1 8B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) can replace Llama 3.1 8B Instruct when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Mistral Nemo can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
  • Mistral Small 3 can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
Larger context near this budget

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Meta catalog

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Mistral catalog

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Meta's latest class of model (Llama 3.1) launched with a variety of sizes & flavors. This 8B instruct-tuned version is fast and efficient. It has demonstrated strong performance compared to...

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Mistral Medium 3.5 is a dense 128B instruction-following model from Mistral AI. It supports text and image inputs with text output, and is designed for agentic workflows, coding, and complex...