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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Codestral vs Command R

Command R comes out ahead, 51 to 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Mistral AI

    Codestral

    Released May 29, 2024

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.90
    • Context256K
    Full specs Remove Codestral
  2. Our pick

    Cohere

    Command R

    Released Aug 30, 2024

    51/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Command R

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Command R is our pick

Command R is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Codestral (48). It leads on price. Codestral wins on 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 priceCommand RCommand R $0.263 · Codestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextCodestralCodestral 256,000 · Command R 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsCodestral: Text · Command R: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightCodestralCommand R
Price50%6677
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%3624
Overall100%48/10051/100

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.

Codestral vs Command R specifications side by side
SpecificationCodestralMistral AICommand RCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.30$0.15 (best)
Output$0.90$0.60 (best)
Cached input$0.03—
Blended (3:1)$0.45$0.263 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Mistral APIOfficial Cohere API
Limits
Context window256,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens (best)4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDcodestral-latestcommand-r-08-2024
API providers35 (best)
ReleasedMay 29, 2024Aug 30, 2024
Knowledge cutoffOct 2024Jun 1, 2024
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.

  • Codestral$4.80
  • Command R$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Codestral or Command R?

Command R is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Codestral (48). It leads on price. Codestral wins on 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, Codestral or Command R?

Command R is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Codestral costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for Command R versus $0.45 for Codestral (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Codestral has not been scored yet and Command R has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Codestral and Command R 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?

Codestral has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Command R. Maximum output per response: Codestral up to 4,096, Command R up to 4,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Codestral accepts text; Command R accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Command R is the newest, released Aug 30, 2024. Codestral came out May 29, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Codestral Oct 2024, Command R Jun 1, 2024.

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.

05 — Keep comparing

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