API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewMistral Medium 3.5 vs Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Pick Llama 3.1 70B 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 70B 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 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.6 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.65 (88.6% lower).

Cost-first pickLlama 3.1 70B Instruct
Context-first pickMistral Medium 3.5
Sample savings$4.6588.6%
10x traffic gap$46.5

Mistral Medium 3.5 has more context, but Llama 3.1 70B Instruct saves $4.65 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $46.5. 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 70B Instruct stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickMistral Medium 3.5Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputLlama 3.1 70B Instruct$11.25$2.2
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputLlama 3.1 70B Instruct$9$0.8
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputLlama 3.1 70B Instruct$39$2.4
Cheaper input Llama 3.1 70B Instruct $1.5 vs $0.4 / 1M

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $1.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (73.3% lower; 3.75x difference).

Cheaper output Llama 3.1 70B Instruct $7.5 vs $0.4 / 1M

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $7.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x 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 Llama 3.1 70B Instruct $5.25 vs $0.6

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $4.65 cheaper on the standard workload (88.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Mistral Medium 3.5 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct 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 70B Instruct has the lower input price; Llama 3.1 70B 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 70B Instruct 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 $0.6 for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct.

Best Fit

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

Choose Llama 3.1 70B Instruct 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, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.6 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.65 (88.6% lower).
  • Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $4.65 cheaper on the standard workload (88.6% lower).
  • Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $1.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (73.3% lower; 3.75x difference).
  • Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $7.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.7% lower; 18.8x difference).
  • Mistral Medium 3.5 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewMistral Medium 3.5
(Mistral)		Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
(Meta)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$1.5$0.4
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$7.5$0.4
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$5.25$0.6
Context Window262.14K131.07K
Release Date
Popularity#47#87

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionLlama 3.1 70B InstructOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is estimated at $0.6 vs $5.25 for Mistral Medium 3.5, saving $4.65 (88.6% lower).
High-volume input processingLlama 3.1 70B InstructLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsLlama 3.1 70B 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
  • 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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Meta catalog

Check other Meta 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...

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct

Meta's latest class of model (Llama 3.1) launched with a variety of sizes & flavors. This 70B instruct-tuned version is optimized for high quality dialogue usecases. It has demonstrated strong...