API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewGPT-6.1 Terra vs Mistral Large 4

Pick Mistral Large 4 for lower cost; pick GPT-6.1 Terra only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-10-26T19:08:43Z Data confirmed: 2026-10-28T05:08:04Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Mistral Large 4 for lower cost; pick GPT-6.1 Terra only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 4 is estimated at $3.45 vs $3.5 for GPT-6.1 Terra, saving $0.05 (1.4% lower).

Cost-first pickMistral Large 4

Context-first pickGPT-6.1 Terra

Sample savings$0.051.4%

10x traffic gap$0.5

GPT-6.1 Terra has more context, but Mistral Large 4 saves $0.05 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors GPT-6.1 Terra, balanced workload favors Mistral Large 4, and output-heavy chatbot favors Mistral Large 4.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GPT-6.1 Terra	Mistral Large 4
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-6.1 Terra	$7.5	$8.89
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Mistral Large 4	$6	$5.54
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Mistral Large 4	$26	$22.26

Cheaper input GPT-6.1 Terra $1 vs $1.36 / 1M

GPT-6.1 Terra is $0.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (26.5% lower; 1.36x difference).

Cheaper output Mistral Large 4 $5 vs $4.18 / 1M

Mistral Large 4 is $0.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.4% lower; 1.2x difference).

Larger context GPT-6.1 Terra 1.05M vs 1.05M

GPT-6.1 Terra has 1.42K more context (1x larger).

Sample workload Mistral Large 4 $3.5 vs $3.45

Mistral Large 4 is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (1.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GPT-6.1 Terra Calculating… Estimated API cost

Mistral Large 4 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

GPT-6.1 Terra has the lower input price; Mistral Large 4 has the lower output price; GPT-6.1 Terra offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Mistral Large 4 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $3.5 for GPT-6.1 Terra and $3.45 for Mistral Large 4.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-6.1 Terra when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Mistral Large 4 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 4 is estimated at $3.45 vs $3.5 for GPT-6.1 Terra, saving $0.05 (1.4% lower).
Mistral Large 4 is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (1.4% lower).
GPT-6.1 Terra is $0.36 cheaper per 1M input tokens (26.5% lower; 1.36x difference).
Mistral Large 4 is $0.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.4% lower; 1.2x difference).
GPT-6.1 Terra has 1.42K more context (1x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewGPT-6.1 Terra (OpenAI)	Mistral Large 4 (Mistral)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1	$1.36
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$5	$4.18
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$3.5	$3.45
Context Window	1.05M	1.05M
Release Date	2026-10-26	2026-10-06

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Mistral Large 4	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Mistral Large 4 is estimated at $3.45 vs $3.5 for GPT-6.1 Terra, saving $0.05 (1.4% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-6.1 Terra	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Mistral Large 4	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-6.1 Terra	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-6.1 Terra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-6.1 Terra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-6.1 Terra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.06.
gpt-oss-20b (batch) can replace GPT-6.1 Terra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.08.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.

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Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Mistral catalog

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

Open Mistral models

GPT-6.1 Terra

GPT-6.1 Terra is the mid-tier model in OpenAI's GPT-6.1 series, priced below GPT-6.1 Sol. It is suited for everyday agentic, coding, and writing work, is particularly strong at understanding screenshots...

Mistral Large 4

Mistral Large 4 is a frontier multimodal (text and image input) model from Mistral AI built for reasoning, coding, and agentic workloads. It offers a 1M-token context window with up...