API cost decision in 10 seconds

Ministral 3 3B 2512 vs Granite 4.0 Micro

Pick Granite 4.0 Micro for lower cost; pick Ministral 3 3B 2512 only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26 12:52 UTC Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Granite 4.0 Micro for lower cost; pick Ministral 3 3B 2512 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.0 Micro is estimated at $0.07 vs $0.15 for Ministral 3 3B 2512, saving $0.08 (51.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGranite 4.0 Micro

Context-first pickMinistral 3 3B 2512

Sample savings$0.0851.3%

10x traffic gap$0.77

Ministral 3 3B 2512 has more context, but Granite 4.0 Micro saves $0.08 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.77. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Granite 4.0 Micro stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Ministral 3 3B 2512	Granite 4.0 Micro
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Granite 4.0 Micro	$0.55	$0.14
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Granite 4.0 Micro	$0.2	$0.13
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Granite 4.0 Micro	$0.6	$0.58

Cheaper inputGranite 4.0 Micro$0.1 vs $0.02 / 1M

Cheaper outputMinistral 3 3B 2512$0.1 vs $0.11 / 1M

Larger contextMinistral 3 3B 2512131.07K vs 131K

Sample workloadGranite 4.0 Micro$0.15 vs $0.07

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokensMonthly output tokens

Ministral 3 3B 2512Calculating…Estimated API cost

Granite 4.0 MicroCalculating…Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workloadCalculating…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

Granite 4.0 Micro has the lower input price, Ministral 3 3B 2512 has the lower output price, and Ministral 3 3B 2512 offers the larger context window.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.15 for Ministral 3 3B 2512 and $0.07 for Granite 4.0 Micro.

Best Fit

Choose Ministral 3 3B 2512 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Granite 4.0 Micro when you care most about lower input-token price.

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Ministral 3 3B 2512 (Mistral)	Granite 4.0 Micro (IBM)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.1	$0.02
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.1	$0.11
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.15	$0.07
Context Window	131.07K	131K
Release Date	2025-12-02	2025-10-20

Ministral 3 3B 2512

The smallest model in the Ministral 3 family, Ministral 3 3B is a powerful, efficient tiny language model with vision capabilities.

Granite 4.0 Micro

Granite-4.0-H-Micro is a 3B parameter from the Granite 4 family of models. These models are the latest in a series of models released by IBM. They are fine-tuned for long...

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Granite 4.0 Micro	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.0 Micro is estimated at $0.07 vs $0.15 for Ministral 3 3B 2512, saving $0.08 (51.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	Granite 4.0 Micro	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Ministral 3 3B 2512	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Ministral 3 3B 2512	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files.