API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewMistral Medium 3.5 vs Gemma 3 27B

Pick Gemma 3 27B 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 Gemma 3 27B 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, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.09 (97% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 27B
Context-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Sample savings$5.0997%
10x traffic gap$50.9

Mistral Medium 3.5 has more context, but Gemma 3 27B saves $5.09 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $50.9. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Gemma 3 27B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickMistral Medium 3.5Gemma 3 27B
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputGemma 3 27B$11.25$0.48
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputGemma 3 27B$9$0.24
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputGemma 3 27B$39$0.88
Cheaper input Gemma 3 27B $1.5 vs $0.08 / 1M

Gemma 3 27B is $1.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 3 27B $7.5 vs $0.16 / 1M

Gemma 3 27B is $7.34 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.9% lower; 46.9x difference).

Larger context Mistral Medium 3.5 262.14K vs 131.07K

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

Sample workload Gemma 3 27B $5.25 vs $0.16

Gemma 3 27B is $5.09 cheaper on the standard workload (97% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Mistral Medium 3.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Gemma 3 27B 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

Gemma 3 27B has the lower input price; Gemma 3 27B has the lower output price; Mistral Medium 3.5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemma 3 27B 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 $0.16 for Gemma 3 27B.

Best Fit

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

Choose Gemma 3 27B 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, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.09 (97% lower).
  • Gemma 3 27B is $5.09 cheaper on the standard workload (97% lower).
  • Gemma 3 27B is $1.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x difference).
  • Gemma 3 27B is $7.34 cheaper per 1M output tokens (97.9% lower; 46.9x difference).
  • Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewMistral Medium 3.5
(Mistral)		Gemma 3 27B
(Google)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$1.5$0.08
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$7.5$0.16
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$5.25$0.16
Context Window262.14K131.07K
Release Date
Popularity#47#86

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGemma 3 27BOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $5.09 (97% lower).
High-volume input processingGemma 3 27BLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGemma 3 27BLower 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

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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Mistral catalog

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Google catalog

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

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Mistral Medium 3.5

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...

Gemma 3 27B

Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...