API cost decision in 10 seconds

Hy3 preview vs Ministral 3 8B 2512

Pick Hy3 preview when budget is the priority.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Hy3 preview when budget is the priority.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $0.22 for Ministral 3 8B 2512, saving $0.03 (12.9% lower).

Cost-first pickHy3 preview

Context-first pickBoth models

Sample savings$0.0312.9%

10x traffic gap$0.29

The reported context window is tied, so cost and provider fit carry more weight. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.29. 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 Hy3 preview, balanced workload favors Ministral 3 8B 2512, and output-heavy chatbot favors Ministral 3 8B 2512.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Hy3 preview	Ministral 3 8B 2512
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Hy3 preview	$0.46	$0.82
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Ministral 3 8B 2512	$0.33	$0.3
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Ministral 3 8B 2512	$1.37	$0.9

Cheaper input Hy3 preview $0.066 vs $0.15 / 1M

Hy3 preview is $0.08 cheaper per 1M input tokens (56% lower; 2.27x difference).

Cheaper output Ministral 3 8B 2512 $0.26 vs $0.15 / 1M

Ministral 3 8B 2512 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M output tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).

Larger context Tie 262.14K vs 262.14K

Both models report the same context window at 262.14K tokens.

Sample workload Hy3 preview $0.2 vs $0.22

Hy3 preview is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (12.9% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Hy3 preview Calculating… Estimated API cost

Ministral 3 8B 2512 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

Hy3 preview has the lower input price; Ministral 3 8B 2512 has the lower output price; both models report the same context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Hy3 preview is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.2 for Hy3 preview and $0.22 for Ministral 3 8B 2512.

Best Fit

Choose Hy3 preview when you care most about lower input-token price.

Choose Ministral 3 8B 2512 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $0.22 for Ministral 3 8B 2512, saving $0.03 (12.9% lower).
Hy3 preview is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (12.9% lower).
Hy3 preview is $0.08 cheaper per 1M input tokens (56% lower; 2.27x difference).
Ministral 3 8B 2512 is $0.11 cheaper per 1M output tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).
Both models report the same context window at 262.14K tokens.

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Hy3 preview (Tencent)	Ministral 3 8B 2512 (Mistral)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.066	$0.15
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.26	$0.15
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.2	$0.22
Context Window	262.14K	262.14K
Release Date	2026-04-22	2025-12-02

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Hy3 preview	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy3 preview is estimated at $0.2 vs $0.22 for Ministral 3 8B 2512, saving $0.03 (12.9% lower).
High-volume input processing	Hy3 preview	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Ministral 3 8B 2512	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Tie	A 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 Ministral 3 8B 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.04.
Mistral Small 3 can replace Ministral 3 8B 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
Ministral 3 3B 2512 can replace Ministral 3 8B 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
Mistral Small 3.2 24B can replace Ministral 3 8B 2512 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.17.

Larger context near this budget

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 Flash (free) offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

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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Tencent catalog

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Mistral catalog

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Hy3 preview

Hy3 preview is a high-efficiency Mixture-of-Experts model from Tencent designed for agentic workflows and production use. It supports configurable reasoning levels across disabled, low, and high modes, allowing it to...

Ministral 3 8B 2512

A balanced model in the Ministral 3 family, Ministral 3 8B is a powerful, efficient tiny language model with vision capabilities.