Mistral Small 3 is $0.45 cheaper per 1M input tokens (90% lower; 10x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Mistral Large 3 2512 vs Mistral Small 3
Pick Mistral Small 3 for lower cost; pick Mistral Large 3 2512 only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Mistral Small 3 for lower cost; pick Mistral Large 3 2512 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $1.25 for Mistral Large 3 2512, saving $1.16 (92.8% lower).
Cost-first pickMistral Small 3
Context-first pickMistral Large 3 2512
Sample savings$1.1692.8%
10x traffic gap$11.6
Mistral Large 3 2512 has more context, but Mistral Small 3 saves $1.16 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $11.6. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Mistral Small 3 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Mistral Large 3 2512 | Mistral Small 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Mistral Small 3 | $3.25 | $0.29 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Mistral Small 3 | $2 | $0.13 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Mistral Small 3 | $8 | $0.45 |
Mistral Small 3 is $1.42 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x difference).
Mistral Large 3 2512 has 229.38K more context (8x larger).
Mistral Small 3 is $1.16 cheaper on the standard workload (92.8% 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 Small 3 has the lower input price; Mistral Small 3 has the lower output price; Mistral Large 3 2512 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Small 3 is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.25 for Mistral Large 3 2512 and $0.09 for Mistral Small 3.
Choose Mistral Large 3 2512 when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Mistral Small 3 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $1.25 for Mistral Large 3 2512, saving $1.16 (92.8% lower).
- Mistral Small 3 is $1.16 cheaper on the standard workload (92.8% lower).
- Mistral Small 3 is $0.45 cheaper per 1M input tokens (90% lower; 10x difference).
- Mistral Small 3 is $1.42 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x difference).
- Mistral Large 3 2512 has 229.38K more context (8x larger).
| Feature | Mistral Large 3 2512 (Mistral) | Mistral Small 3 (Mistral) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.5 | $0.05 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $1.5 | $0.08 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.25 | $0.09 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 32.77K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #114 | #135 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Mistral Small 3 | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Small 3 is estimated at $0.09 vs $1.25 for Mistral Large 3 2512, saving $1.16 (92.8% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Mistral Small 3 | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Mistral Small 3 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Mistral Large 3 2512 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Mistral Nemo can replace Mistral Large 3 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
- Ministral 3 3B 2512 can replace Mistral Large 3 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
- Mistral Small 3.2 24B can replace Mistral Large 3 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.
- Mistral 7B Instruct v0.1 can replace Mistral Large 3 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.21.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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Open Mistral modelsMistral 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.
Mistral Small 3 is a 24B-parameter language model optimized for low-latency performance across common AI tasks. Released under the Apache 2.0 license, it features both pre-trained and instruction-tuned versions designed...