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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Apertus 8B vs Mistral Nemotron

Mistral Nemotron comes out ahead, 62 to 56 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Swiss AI

    Apertus 8B

    Released Sep 2, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.20
    • Context66K
  2. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Mistral Nemotron

    Released Jun 11, 2025Deprecated

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context128K
  3. Add a model

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01 — Verdict

Mistral Nemotron is our pick

Mistral Nemotron is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Apertus 8B (56). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceMistral NemotronMistral Nemotron Free · Apertus 8B $0.125 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMistral NemotronMistral Nemotron 128,000 · Apertus 8B 65,536 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsApertus 8B: Text · Mistral Nemotron: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightApertus 8BMistral Nemotron
Price50%93100
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%1224
Overall100%56/10062/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Apertus 8B vs Mistral Nemotron specifications side by side
SpecificationApertus 8BSwiss AIMistral NemotronNVIDIA
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10Free (best)
Output$0.20Free (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.125Free (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersOfficial Nvidia API
Limits
Context window65,536 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0Open
API model ID—mistralai/mistral-nemotron
API providers11
ReleasedSep 2, 2025Jun 11, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 2025—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Apertus 8B$1.40
  • Mistral NemotronFree
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Apertus 8B or Mistral Nemotron?

Mistral Nemotron is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Apertus 8B (56). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Apertus 8B or Mistral Nemotron?

Mistral Nemotron is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). Apertus 8B costs $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Mistral Nemotron is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Apertus 8B has not been scored yet and Mistral Nemotron has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Apertus 8B and Mistral Nemotron yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Mistral Nemotron has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 65,536 for Apertus 8B. Maximum output per response: Apertus 8B up to 8,192, Mistral Nemotron up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Apertus 8B accepts text; Mistral Nemotron accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Apertus 8B is the newest, released Sep 2, 2025. Mistral Nemotron came out Jun 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Apertus 8B Sep 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.