API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewMistral Medium 3.5 vs Claude 3.5 Haiku

Pick Claude 3.5 Haiku 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 Claude 3.5 Haiku 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, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $2.45 (46.7% lower).

Cost-first pickClaude 3.5 Haiku
Context-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Sample savings$2.4546.7%
10x traffic gap$24.5

Mistral Medium 3.5 has more context, but Claude 3.5 Haiku saves $2.45 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $24.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Claude 3.5 Haiku stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickMistral Medium 3.5Claude 3.5 Haiku
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$11.25$6
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$9$4.8
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputClaude 3.5 Haiku$39$20.8
Cheaper input Claude 3.5 Haiku $1.5 vs $0.8 / 1M

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $0.7 cheaper per 1M input tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).

Cheaper output Claude 3.5 Haiku $7.5 vs $4 / 1M

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $3.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).

Larger context Mistral Medium 3.5 262.14K vs 200K

Mistral Medium 3.5 has 62.14K more context (1.31x larger).

Sample workload Claude 3.5 Haiku $5.25 vs $2.8

Claude 3.5 Haiku is $2.45 cheaper on the standard workload (46.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Mistral Medium 3.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Claude 3.5 Haiku 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

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

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5 and $2.8 for Claude 3.5 Haiku.

Best Fit

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

Choose Claude 3.5 Haiku 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, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $2.45 (46.7% lower).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $2.45 cheaper on the standard workload (46.7% lower).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $0.7 cheaper per 1M input tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).
  • Claude 3.5 Haiku is $3.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (46.7% lower; 1.88x difference).
  • Mistral Medium 3.5 has 62.14K more context (1.31x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewMistral Medium 3.5
(Mistral)
Claude 3.5 Haiku
(Anthropic)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$1.5$0.8
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$7.5$4
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$5.25$2.8
Context Window262.14K200K
Release Date
Popularity#47#104

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionClaude 3.5 HaikuOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3.5 Haiku is estimated at $2.8 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $2.45 (46.7% lower).
High-volume input processingClaude 3.5 HaikuLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsClaude 3.5 HaikuLower 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
  • 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.
  • Ministral 3 3B 2512 can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
  • Mistral Small 3.2 24B can replace Mistral Medium 3.5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.
Larger context near this budget

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Mistral catalog

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Anthropic catalog

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

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